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LIFE  AND  REMINISCENCES 


OF 


GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

BY 

DISTINGUISHED  MEN  OF  HIS  TIME. 

EX-PRESIDENT  HAYES.  GEN.  O.  O.  HOWARD,  HON.  GEO.  W.  CHTLDS 

GEN.  HENRY  SLOCUM,  GEN.  HORATIO  C.  KING,  SENATOR 

MANDERSON,  HON.  CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW.  ADMIRAL 

PORTER,  GENERAL  HORACE  PORTER,  SENATOR 

HAWLEY.  HON.  THOMAS  C.  FLETCHER, 

REV.  T.  DE  WITT  TALMAGE,  D.D. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


LENOX  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 
1891. 


COPYRIGHTED,    1891 
BY  R.  H.   WOODWARD   &  CO. 


Dedication. 


TO  THE 

SURVIVING  SOLDIERS 

OF  THE  ARMIES  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

TO  YOU  IS  DEDICATED  THIS  MEMORIAL  VOLUME 

OF    YOUR    HONORED     ANDt    MUCH-LOVED     LEADER, 

WILLIAM  TECUMSEH  SHERMAN, 

THE     SOLDIER,      BRAVE,      HONEST     AND    TRUE, 

UNDER  WHOM  YOU   FOUGHT  SO  NOBLY 

AND  WON  SO  GLORIOUSLY  IN 

THAT     MEMORABLE 

CONFLICT    OF 

1861-65. 


835786 


CONTENTS. 


LIFE. 

PACK 

His   LIFE    BEFORE  THE  WAR i 

DURING  THE  WAR 19 

AFTER  THE  WAR .  .  66 

His  LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK 78 

His  HUMOROUS  SIDE 95 

His  LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DEATH no 

THE  FUNERAL 126 

His  CHARACTER .' 199 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES. 

BY  HORATIO  G.  KING 253 

BY  GEORGE  W.  CHILDS 272 

BY  GENERAL  O.  O.  HOWARD 287 

BY  MR.  HIRAM  HITCHCOCK 295 

BY  ADMIRAL  PORTER 301 

BY  GENERAL  HORACE  PORTER 303 

BY  THE  EDITORS 320 

he 


x  CONTENTS. 

PACK 

BY  HON.  CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW 323 

BY  PRESIDENT  HARRISON 334 

BY  REV.  T.  DEWITT  TALMAGE,  D.D 336 

BY  COLONEL  GEORGE  A.  KNIGHT 338 

BY  GENERAL  HENRY  W.  SLOCUM 346 

BY  SENATOR  MORGAN .'....  350 

BY  SENATOR  HAWLEY 354 

BY  HON.  CARL  SCHURZ 355 

BY  EX-PRESIDENT  HAYES 356 

BY  HON.  CHARLES  F.  MANDERSON 359 


APPENDIX. 

OLD  TIMES  IN  CALIFORNIA 375 

GRANT,  THOMAS,    LEE 398 

OUR  ARMY  AND  MILITIA 432 

CAMP-FIRES  OF  THE  G.  A.  R 455 

RESPONSE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN 468 

SHERMAN  ON  LONGSTREET 476 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN,  AGE  70 FRONTISPIECE 

BATTLE  OF  SHILOH Facing  page   24 

PANORAMIC  VIEW  OF  CHATTANOOGA "       "  42 

SHERMAN'S  ARMY  LEAVING  ATLANTA "       "  38 

SHERMAN'S  ARMY  DESTROYING  RAILROAD  AND 

TELEGRAPH  WIRES "       :<  36 

THE  ADVANCE  GUARD  BEFORE  SAVANNAH  .  ••  .      "       *  92 

SURRENDER  OF  GENERAL  JOHNSTON "  52 

JOHNSTON  AND  His  GENERALS "  56 

THE  GRAND  REVIEW  IN  WASHINGTON,  MAY  24TH, 

1865 "       "  66 

FUNERAL  SCENE  IN  NEW  YORK 128 

GENERAL  O.  O.  HOWARD 

ADMIRAL  PORTER 301 

VIEW  OF  RICHMOND,  VA 324 

GENERAL  HENRY  W.  SLOCUM •  •  346 

OLD  LIBBY  PRISON,  RICHMOND,  VA 368 

CONFEDERATE  CAPITOL,  RICHMOND,  VA 398 

xi 


INTRODUCTION 


~\T  7HATEVER  history  preserves  of  what  a  man  said 
'  *  and  what  he  did  forms  the  basis  of  the  opinion 
that  posterity  gathers  of  him.  History  will  carry  to 
coming  generations  the  evidences  of  the  military  genius 
of  General  Sherman  and  the  far-reaching  and  great 
breadth  of  his  mind.  His  marches  and  battles  and  tri- 
umphs and  speeches  and  letters  will  do  all  this,  but  that  is 
not  all  that  should  be  preserved  to  carry  into  coming  time 
a  knowledge  of  what  manner  of  man  this  patriot,  hero, 
brainy  American  was.  I  write  of  him  of  my  personal 
knowledge.  He  was  capable  of  preserving  the  calmest 
demeanor  under  circumstances  provocative  of  the  greatest 
excitement;  his  friendship,  freely  given  to  all  whom  he 
thought  deserving,  was  always  intense.  If  he  had  dis- 
likes he  did  not  manifest  or  speak  of  them,  unless  in  de- 
fence of  his  self-respect.  In  all  the  years  in  which  I  was 
honored  with  his  familiar  association,  I  do  not  recall  an 
instance  of  hearing  him  speak  unkindly  of  any  one,  but 
he  always  had  a  word  of  commendation  for  all  who  de- 
served it.  He  never  grumbled.  He  was  eminently  a  just 


xiv  '  INTR  OD  UCTION. 

man — liberal  in  all  things,  but  would  resent  and  resist 
vigorously  the  smallest  infringement  on  his  rights  as  a 
man,  or  any  unjust  exaction  of  him  on  the  part  of  any 
one,  he  cared  not  who.  He  never  shirked  or  dodged 
any  responsibility, 'as  witness  the  facts  of  the  battle  of 
Chickasaw  Bayou,  2pth  December,  1862. 

Genl.  Morgan  reported  to  him  that  he  had  bridged  the 
bayou,  whereas,  in  fact,  he  had  only  bridged  a  small 
lateral  bayou ;  he  reported  to  him  that  there  was  nothing 
between  our  troops  and  the  hills,  when  the  bayou,  wide 
and  deep,  and  an  abattis  almost  impassable  lay  before 
us.  I  reconnoitered  the  situation  and  reported  it  to  Genl. 
Blair,  and  Blair,  in  my  presence,  reported  it  to  Morgan, 
and  yet  Morgan  assured  Genl.  Sherman  that  he  would 
be  on  the  hills  in  ten  minutes  after  the  firing  of  the  sig- 
nal-guns for  the  charge,  and  misled  him  in  every  ma- 
terial fact  as  to  the  situation.  The  disastrous  charge 
raised  a  howl  against  Genl.  Sherman  all  along  the  line  of 
that  great  army  of  stay-at-home  army  critics,  and  yet  the 
brave  and  generous  soldier  wrote :  "  I  assume  all  respon- 
sibility and  attach  fault  to  no  one ; "  and  there  it  stands 
on  the  official  records  of  the  Republic. 

McClernand  was  sent  to  relieve  him  of  his  command 
and  brought  him  the  first  intelligence  he  had  that  Genl. 
Grant  had  lost  his  base  of  supplies  at  Holly  Springs,  and 
had  to  fall  back,  thereby  being  prevented  from  co-oper- 
ating with  him  at  Chickasaw  Bayou,  and  allowing  Pern- 


INTR  OD  UCTION.  x  v 

berton  to  re-enforce  Vicksburg.  McClernand  assumed 
command,  Sherman's  army  was  divided  into  two  corps, 
he  was  given  command  of  one  and  Morgan  of  the  other. 

Of  all  his  army  Genl.  Sherman  was  the  only  man  who 
was  not  heard  vigorously  protesting  against  his  treat- 
ment; he  never  murmured,  but  went  right  on.  He  could 
wait  on  slow-paced  reason  to  demonstrate  the  truth  by 
the  aid  of  time,  and  yet  in  war  he  seemed  to  act  from  the 
inspirations  of  genius  that  waits  not  on  anything. 

In  readiness  of  apprehension,  quickness  of  perception 
of  facts  and  conclusion  as  to  course  in  an  emergency  and 
rapidity  of  execution,  he  excelled  any  officers  of  his  time. 

Annuall)',  ever  since  the  war,  we  have  met  with  the 
society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  meeting  at  all  the 
cities  and  principal  towns  of  the  great  valley.  He  de- 
lighted in  our  meetings;  hundreds  and  thousands  of  the 
old  soldiers  greeted  him  on  all  occasions ;  for  every  one 
he  had  a  kind  word  of  earnest  inquiry,  as  to  his  present 
condition  in  life,  his  family,  etc.  He  was  our  president  for 
about  twenty  years.  He  dispatched  the  business  of  the 
society  promptly,  rapidly  and  with  little  regard  to  parlia- 
mentary law  or  rules ;  he  properly  regarded  formality  of 
proceedings  as  unnecessary,  and  went  right  at  it  and  put 
it  through.  He  enjoyed  our  songs.  "The  Sword  of 
Bunker  Hill "  and  "  Old  Shady"  were  two  of  his  favor- 
ites. He  was  a  model  toast-master,  and  his  speeches, 
preserved  in  the  volumes  of  our  proceedings,  are  remark- 


xvi  INTR  OD  UCTION. 

able  for  brevity,  point  and  appropriateness.  He  had  the 
keenest  appreciation  of  humor,  and  always  encouraged 
the  class  of  speeches  that  drew  forth  the  heartiest  laugh. 
He  lived  with  us  in  St.  Louis.  I  had  the  honor  to  ad- 
minister to  him  the  obligation  of  a  comrade  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic.  I  shall  never  forget  the  expres- 
sion of  uncertainty  or  doubt  which  his  face  wore  until  I 
reached  that  portion  of  it  which  pledged  his  honor  as  a 
soldier  to  honor  the  Constitution  of  our  country,  obey  its 
laws,  defend  the  Union  and  uphold  the  flag  of  our  coun- 
try as  the  emblem  of  liberty,  equal  rights  and  national 
unity ;  then  he  straightened  himself  to  his  full  height 
and  his  face  lighted  with  a  halo  of  patriotic  fire,  he  vigor- 
ously nodded  his  assent  and  repeated  it  in  an  emphatic 
tone.  We  buried  him  there.  The  whole  mass  of  people 
there  knew  and  loved  him.  The  old  soldiers  took  up 
the  line  of  march  to  follow  him  in  death  as  they  had 
done  in  life.  The  old  Confederate  soldiers,  too,  fell 
in  and  marched  with  the  great  procession  ;  a  half  million 
of  people,  of  every  party,  sect  and  nationality — men, 
women  and  children — stood  uncovered,  and  thousands 
wept  as  the  cortege  moved  to  the  cemetery,  all  moved 
by  a  feeling  not  only  that  he  was  the  greatest  military 
chieftain  at  his  death  in  all  the  world,  but  because  he  was 
esteemed  by  them  as  a  kind-hearted,  social,  benevolent 
friend,  whom  they  had  learned  to  love  in  their  social 
contact  with  him.  THOS.  C.  FLETCHER. 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  WM.  T.SHERMAN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HIS  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

VK7ILLIAM  TECUMSEH  SHERMAN  was 
born  Feb.  8th,  1820,  at  Lancaster,  Fairfield 
County,  Ohio.  It  is  an  interesting  coincidence 
that  the  two  great  Union  soldiers  who  first  suc- 
cessively rose  to  the  full  rank  of  General  were 
born  in  the  same  State  of  Ohio,  and  that  there 
also  Sheridan,  the  third  and  only  other*  Union 
soldier  who  reached  that  exalted  grade,  passed 
all  his  boyhood  from  infancy,  his  home  being  only 
a  few  miles  distant  from  the  birth-place  of  Sher- 
man. 

William's  paternal  ancestor,  Samuel  Sherman, 
emigrated  to  America  in  1635,  only  thirteen  years 
behind  the  "  Mayflower."  He  was  a  strict  Puritan 


2  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

and  a  man  of  a  strong  character.  He  settled  at 
first  in  Stratford,  Conn.,  and  afterward  became 
one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Woodbury, 
Conn. 

Daniel  Sherman,  one  of  his  descendants,  be- 
came a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  in 
Connecticut  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
and  served  for  sixty-five  consecutive  sessions,  or 
thirty-two  and  a  half  years,  as  the  representative 
of  his  native  town  in  the  General  Assembly  of 
Connecticut.  His  son,  Taylor  Sherman,  a  lawyer 
and  afterward  Judge,  was  the  General's  grand- 
father. Charles  R.  Sherman,  William's  father, 
took  to  the  same  profession,  but  went  to  Ohio  to 
practice  it  in  1810,  making  the  little  town  of  Lan- 
caster his  home.  He  was  made  Judge  of  the 
Supreme:  Court  in  1823,  and  died  while  on  the 
Bench  in  1829  in  Lebanon,  leaving  six  sons,  to 
the  two  elder  of  whom  fell  the  task  of  supporting 
the  mother  and  younger  children. 

In  1829,  when  William  was  but  nine  years  old, 
his  father  suddenly  died,  and  the  Hon.  Thomas 
Ewing,  a  leading  member  of  the  bar,  residing  in 
Lancaster,  who  two  years  afterward  represented 


HIS  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  8 

Ohio  in  the  United  States  Senate,  adopted  young 
"  Cump,"  as  the  bright-looking  youngster  is  said 
to  have  been  then  familiarly  known,  and  took  care 
that  he  should  be  well  educated  in  the  schools  of 
Lancaster  until  his  sixteenth  year.  Then  it  was 
not  difficult  for  him  to  provide  a  cadetship  at 
West  Point  for  his  young  charge.  Entering  the 
Military  Academy  in  1836,  Cadet  Sherman  was 
graduated  in  1840,  sixth  in  his  class;  and  that 
class  contained  another  very  famous  soldier, 
George  H.  Thomas,  besides  Ewell,  Getty  and 
others. 

He  beat  General  Grant  in  the  race  for  scholar- 
ship, especially  in  engineering,  which  was  a  favor- 
ite study  with  him;  but  he  always  sighed  and 
frowned  over  an  ill-concealed  chuckle  as  he  con- 
fessed that  he  was  not  a  Sunday-school  cadet,  for 
he  stood  No.  1 24  in  the  relative  standard  for  good 
behavior,  while  Grant  was  near  the  foot  as  No. 
149.  But  Sherman  graduated  No.  6  in  his  class, 
in  1840,  when  the  final  distribution  of  honors  was 
made,  while  Grant  three  years  later  could  not 
beat  No.  21.  All  of  which  shows  that  West  Point 
and  War  do  not  always  make  the  same  records. 


4  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

Assigned  to  the  Third  Artillery  as  a  Second 
Lieutenant,  he  saw  service  in  Florida,  and  his 
promotion  to  be  First  Lieutenant  came  in 
1841.  The  following  year  his  company  was 
stationed  at  Fort  Morgan  and  soon  after  was 
transferred  to  Fort  Moultrie,  in  Charleston  Har- 
bor, where  there  was  plenty  of  hospitable  society, 
with  out-door  amusements  in  hunting  and  fishing. 
There  the  opening  of  the  Mexican  war  in  1846 
found  him,  in  the  company  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Robert  Anderson.  He  was  first  assigned  to 
recruiting  duty  at  the  North  and  finally  to  Com- 
pany F  of  his  regiment,  then  under  orders  for  Cali- 
fornia by  way  of  Cape  Horn.  He  reached  Mon- 
terey Bay  early  in  January,  1847,  after  a  voyage 
of  198  days  from  New  York.  The  description 
of  his  impressions  of  California  and  of  his  exper- 
ience there  forms  one  of  the  most  picturesque 
and  interesting  portions  of  the  General's  mem- 
oirs. He  says: 

"  At  that  time  Monterey  was  our  headquarters. 
Colonel  Mason,  First  Dragoons  was  an  officer  of 
great  experience,  of  stern  character,  deemed  by 
some  harsh  and  severe,  but  in  all  my  intercourse 


HIS  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  5 

with  him  he  was  kind  and  agreeable.  He  had  a 
large  fund  of  good  sense,  and  during  our  long 
period  of  service  together  I  enjoyed  his  unlimited 
confidence.  He  had  been  in  his  day  a  splendid 
shot  and  hunter,  and  often  entertained  me  with 
characteristic  anecdotes  of  Taylor,  Twiggs,  Worth, 
Horner,  Martin  Scott,  etc.,  etc.,  who  were  then 
in  Mexico  gaining  a  national  fame.  California 
had  settled  down  to  a  condition  of  absolute  re- 
pose, and  we  naturally  repined  at  fate,  at  our  be- 
ing so  far  away  from  the  war  in  Mexico,  in  which 
our  comrades  were  reaping  large  honors.  Mason 
lived  in  a  house  not  far  from  the  Custom  House. 
I  had  a  small  adobe  house.  Halleck  and  Dr. 
Murray  had  a  small  log  house  not  far  off." 


"  I  spent  much  time  in  hunting  deer  and  bear 
in  the  mountains  back  of  Carmell  Mission,  and 
ducks  and  geese  in  the  plains  of  Salinas.  As 
soon  as  the  Fall  rains  set  in,  the  young  oats  would 
spring  up,  and  myriads  of  ducks,  brants  and 
geese  made  their  appearance.  In  a  single  day  I 
could  load  a  pack-mule  with  ducks  and  geese. 


6  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

"  The  seasons  are  well  marked  in  California. 
About  October  and  November  the  rains  begin, 
and  the  whole  country  is  covered  with  bright 
green  grass,  with  endless  flowers.  The  interval 
between  the  rains  gave  the  finest  weather  possi- 
ble. The  rains  are  less  frequent  in  March,  and 
cease  altogether  in  April  and  May,  when  gradually 
the  grass  dies,  and  the  whole  aspect  of  tilings 
changes,  first  yellow,  then  brown,  and  by  mid-sum- 
mer all  is  as  dried  up  and  burnt  as  an  ash-heap. 

"During  the  Fall  of  1848,  Warner,  Ord  and  I 
camped  on  the  bank  of  the  American  River  at  the 
breast  of  the  fort,  known  as  the  '  Old  Tan  Yard,' 
I  cleaned  up  the  dishes,  Warner  looked  after  the 
horses,  Ord  was  scullion;  but  Ord  was  deposed  as 
scullion,  because  he  would  only  wipe  the  tin  plates 
with  the  turf  of  grass,  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  country,  whereas  Warner  insisted  on  having 
them  washed  after  each  meal  with  hot  water. 
Warner  was  in  consequence  promoted  to  scullion, 
and  Ord  became  hostler.  We  drew  our  rations 
from  Commissary  at  San  Francisco,  who  sent  them 
up  the  river  by  boat,  and  we  were  enabled 
to  dispense  generous  hospitality  to  many  a  poor 


HIS  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  7 

devil   who   otherwise   would    have   had   nothing 
to  eat. 


"  On  the  next  day  we  crossed  over  the  Santa 
Cruz  Mountains,  from  which  we  had  a  sublime 
view  of  the  scenery  first  looking  east  towards  the 
Lower  Bay  of  San  Francisco  with  the  bright  plain 
of  Santa  Clara  and  San  Jose,  and  then  west  to 
the  ocean,  the  town  of  Monterey  being  visible 
sixty  miles  off.  We  beheld  from  its  mountains 
the  firing  of  a  salute  from  the  battery  of  Monterey, 
and  counted  the  number  of  guns  from  the  white 
puffs  of  smoke,  but  could  not  hear  the  sound. 
That  night  we  slept  on  piles  of  wheat  in  a  mill  at 
Saquel.  We  made  an  early  start  the  next  morn- 
ing, as  our  rations  had  about  given  out.  By  nine 
o'clock  we  reached  a  ranch.  It  was  a  high  point 
of  the  plateau,  on  which  were  foraging  many  horses 
and  cattle.  The  house  was  an  adobe  with  a  long 
range  of  adobe  huts  occupied  by  semi-civil- 
ized Indians,  who  at  that  time  did  all  of  the  labor 
of  a  ranch.  Everything  about  the  house  looked 
deserted,  and  seeing  an  Indian  boy  leaning  against 


8  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

a  post  I  approached  him,  and  asked  in  Spanish, 
'Where  is  the  Master?'  'Gone  to  Presidio' 
(Monterey).  '  Is  anybody  in  the  house ?'  'No.' 
4  Have  you  any  meat  ? '  '  No.'  '  Any  flour  or  ( 
grain  ? '  '  No.'  '  Any  chickens  ? '  '  No.'  '  What 
do  you  live  on ?'  ' Nada*  (nothing).  The  utter 
indifference  of  this  boy,  and  the  tone  of  his  an- 
swers attracted  the  attention  of  Colonel  Mason, 
who  had  been  listening  to  our  conversation,  and 
who  knew  enough  of  Spanish  to  catch  the  mean- 
ing, and  he  exclaimed  with  some  feeling,  '  So  we 
get  nada  for  our  breakfast.'  I  felt  mortified,  for  I 
had  held  out  a  prospect  of  a  splendid  breakfast 
of  meal,  tortillas  with  rice,  chicken,  eggs,  etc.,  at 
the  ranch  of  my  friend,  Jose  Antonio,  as  a  justifi- 
cation for  taking  the  Governor,  a  man  of  sixty 
years  of  age,  more  than  twenty  miles,  at  a  full 
canter  for  his  breakfast.  But  there  was  no  help 
for  it,  and  we  accordingly  went  a  short  distance  to 
a  pond,  where  we  unpacked  our  mules,  and  made  a 
slim  breakfast  on  a  hard  piece  of  bread,  and  a  bone 
of  pork  that  remained  in  our  alforjas.  This  was 
no  uncommon  thing  in  those  days,  whep  many 
a  ranchman,  with  his  eleven  leagues  of  land,  his 


HIS  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  9 

hundreds  of  horses  and. cattle,  would  receive  us 
with  the  grandiloquence  of  a  Spanish  lord,  and 
confess  that  he  had  nothing  to  eat  except  the  car- 
cass of  the  beef  hung  up,  from  which  the  stranger 
might  cut  and  cook  without  money  or  without 
price. 

"  All  the  missions  and  houses  at  that  period  were 
alive  with  fleas,  which  the  natives  looked  on  as 
pleasant,  titillators,  but  they  so  tortured  me  that 
I  always  gave  them  a  wide  berth,  and  slept  on  a 
saddle-blanket,  with  the  saddle  for  a  pillow  and 
the  blanket  for  a  cover. 


"As  the  spring  and  summer,  1848,  advanced, 
the  reports  came  faster  and  faster  from  the  gold- 
mines at  Sutter's  Mills.  Stories  were  told  us  of 
fabulous  discoveries.  Everybody  was  talking  of 
'gold!  gold!!v'  until  it  assumed  the  character  of 
a  fever.  Some  of  our.  soldiers  began  to  desert, 
citizens  were  fitting  out  trains  of  wagons  and  pack- 
mules  to  go  to  the  mines.  We  heard  of  men 
earning  fifty,  five  hundred  and  one  thousand  dol- 
lars a  clay,  and  for  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  some 


10  LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

one  would  reach  solid  gold.  I  of  course  could 
not  escape  the  infection,  and  at  last  convinced 
Colonel  Mason  that  it  was  our  duty  to  go  up,  and 
see  with  our  own  eyes,  that  we  might  report  to 
our  Government.  As  yet  we  had  no  regular  mail 
to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  but  mails  had 
come  to  us  at  long  intervals  around  Cape  Horn, 
and  one  or  two  overland.  I  well  remember  the 
first  overland  mail.  It  was  brought  by  Kit  Carson 
in  saddle-bags  from  Toas  in  New  Mexico.  We 

o 

heard  of  his  arrival  at  Los  Angeles  and  waited 
patiently  for  his  arrival  at  headquarters.  His  fame 
was  at  its  height,  from  publications  of  Fremont's 
books,  and  I  was  very  anxious  to  see  a  man  who 
had  achieved  such  feats  of  daring  among  wild 
animals  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  still  wilder 
Indians  of  the  plains.  At  last  his  arrival  was  re- 
ported at  the  tavern  at  Monterey,  and  I  hurried 
to  hunt  him  up.  I  cannot  express  my  surprise  at 
beholding  a  small,  stoop-shouldered  man,  with 
reddish  hair,  freckled  face,  soft  blue  eyes,  and 
nothing  to  indicate  extraordinary  daring  or  cour- 
age. He  spoke  but  little  and  answered  in  mono- 
syllables. I  asked  for  his  mail,  and  he  picked  up  the 


HIS  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  11 

saddle-bags  containing  the  great  overland  mail, 
and  he  walked  to  headquarters  and  delivered  the 
parcel  into  Colonel  Mason's  own  hands.  He  told 
us  something  of  his  personal  history.  He  was 
then  by  commission  a  lieutenant  in  the  regiment 
of  Mountain  Rifles  serving  in,  Mexico,  and  as  he 
could  not  reach  his  regiment  from  California, 
Colonel  Mason  ordered  that  he  be  assigned  for  a 
time  to  duty  with  A.  J.  Smith's  company,  First 
Dragoons,  Los  Angeles.  He  remained  several 
months  at  Los  Angeles,  and  was  then  sent  back 
to  the  United  States  with  dispatches,  traveling  two 
thousand  miles  alone  in  preference  to  being  en- 
cumbered by  a  large  party." 

In  speaking  of  San  Francisco,  he  says:  "The 
rains  were  heavy  and  the  mud  fearful.  I  have 
seen  mules  stumble  in  the  street  and  drown  in 
liquid  mud.  Montgomery  Street  had  been  filled 
up  with  bushes  and  clay,  and  I  always  dreaded  to 
ride  horseback,  because  the  mud  was  so  deep 
that  the  horse's  legs  would  become  entangled 
in  the  bushes  below  and  the  rider  would  likely 
be  thrown  and  be  drowned  in  the  mud.  The 
only  sidewalks  were  made  of  stepping  stones  of 


12  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN.    „ 

empty  boxes  and  here  and  there  with  a  few 
barrel  staves  nailed  on.  Gambling  was  the 
chief  occupation  of  the  people.  While  they 
were  waiting  for  cessation  of  the  rainy  season, 
all  sorts  of  houses  were  put  up,  but  of  the  most 
flimsy  kind.  Any  room  twenty  by  sixty  feet 
would  rent  for  one  thousand  dollars  a  month.  I 
had  as  my  pay  seventy  dollars  a  month,  and  no 
one  would  try  to  hire  a  servant  under  three 
hundred  dollars  a  month.  Had  it  not  been 
for  the  fifteen  hundred  dollars  that  I  had  salved, 
I  could  not  have  possibly  lived  through  the 
winter." 

Sherman  acted  as  Adjutant-General  successively 
to  (General  S.  W.  Kearney,  Colonel  Mason  and 
General  Persifer  F.  Smith.  But  while  this  tour  of 
duty  gave  the  young  lieutenant  a  novel  and  most 
interesting  experience  and  the  brevet  of  captain, 
it  kept  him  out  of  the  fighting  in  Mexico  and 
doubtless  may  have  led  to  that  withdrawal  from 
military  to  civil  life  which  he  soon  afterward  re- 
solved upon. 

In  1850  he  returned  from  California  with  dis- 
patches for  the  War  Department,  and  after  visiting 


&IS  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  18 

his  mother  at  Mansfield,  in  Ohio,  was  married  at 
Washington,  on  the  ist  of  May,  to  Miss  Ellen 
Boyle  Ewing,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Thomas 
Ewing,  /who  was  then  Secretary  of  the  Inte- 
rior. He  had  been  formally  engaged  for  some 
years,  and,  indeed,  his  correspondence  with  her, 
which  contains  some  of  the  most  interesting 
details  now  known  of  his  earlier  life,  had  been 
continued  all  through  his  career  at  West  Point. 
The  marriage  ceremony  was  attended  by  a  very 
distinguished  assembly,  iacluding  the  President 
and  all  his  Cabinet.  During  the  following  Sep- 
tember he  was  made  a  captain  in  the  Commissary 
Department  and  was  ordered  to  take  post  at  St. 
Louis. 

In  the  fall  of  1853  Captain  Sherman,  seeing  lit- 
tle prospect  of  advancement  in  the  army,  and 
having  made  business  acquaintances  in  St.  Louis, 
resigned  his  commission  s6  as  to  become  manager 
of  a  branch  bank  to  be  established  by  Lucas, 
Turner  &  Co.,  of  St.  Louis,  in  San  Francisco.  In 
the  latter  city,  accordingly,  his  life  for  the  three  or 
four  years  following  was  passed,  and  during  that 
period  he  had  plenty  of  opportunity  to  witness  the 


14  LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHE&MAN. 

operation  of  the  Vigilance  Committee.  The  unset- 
tled state  of  business,  however,  eventually  made  it 
expedient  to  close  the  branch  bank,  and  this  was 
done  on  May  i,  1857.  Captain  Sherman  then  pro- 
ceeded with  his  family  by  way  of  the  isthmus  to  New 
York,  where  he  again  became  a  financial  agent  of 
the  St.  Louis  firm,  which  had  changed  its  name  to 
James  H.  Lucas  &  Co.  But  this  new  arrange- 
ment was  still  more  speedily  broken  up  by  the 
suspension  of  the  St.  Louis  house.  The  settle- 
ment of  its  affairs  carried  Sherman  again  to  San 
Francisco,  and  thence  he  returned  to  Lancaster, 
the  family  home. 

The  question  then  arose,  as  General  Sherman 
put  it  with  his  accustomed  frankness,  "  What  was 
I  to  do  to  support  my  family,  consisting  of  a  wife 
and  four  children,  all  accustomed  to  more  than 
the  average  comforts  of  life  ?  "  It  happened  that 
two  of  Mr.  Ewing's  sons  had  established  them- 
selves at  Leavenworth,  where  they  and  their  father 
had  bought  a  good  deal  of  land,  and  where  they 
were  practicing  law.  They  offered  to  take  him  in 
as  a  partner,  and  the  law  firm  of  Sherman  & 
Ewing  was  duly  announced.  It  is  curious  to  note 


HIS  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  15 

among  the  letters  which  he  had  written  from  Fort 
Moultrie,  fifteen  years  before,  one  which  explains 
that  he  had  been  devoting  much  time  to  reading 
law,  and  that  he  had  gone  through  all  four  volumes 
of  Blackstone,  Starkie  on  Evidence,  a.id  other 
books.  "I  have  no  idea,"  he  had  written,  "  of  mak- 
ing the  law  a  profession,  but  as  an  officer  of  the 
army  it  is  my  duty  and  interest  to  be  prepared 
for  any  situation  that  fortune  or  luck  may  offer. 
It  is  for  this  alone  that  I  prepare,  and  not  for  pro- 
fessional practice."  No  doubt  even  this  slender 
acquaintance  with  the  law  was  cherished  by  the 
soldier  under  these  later  circumstances ;  still,  he 
purposed  to  give  his  attention  mainly  to  collections 
and  to  such  general  business  as  his  banking  ex- 
perience would  justify.  However,  after  taking  in 
still  another  partner,  the  firm  became  rather  over- 
grown for  the  amount  of  profitable  business  which 
it  could  secure,  and  in  1859  Sherman  wrote  to 
Major  Don  Carlos  Buell,  in  the  War  Department, 
to  see  if  there  was  any  way  for  him  to  re-enter 
the  military  service  as  a  paymaster  or  otherwise. 
Major  Buell  sent  him  the  programme  of  a  State 
military  academy  about  to  be  organized  at  Alex- 


16  LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

andria,  in  Louisiana,  and  advised  him  to  apply  for 
the  place  of  superintendent.  His  application  was 
at  once  made  and  was  successful,  although  at  that 
time  the  Hon.  John  Sherman  was  a  candidate  for 
Speaker  in  the  House  of  Representatives  at 
Washington,  and  was  regarded  in  some  parts  of 
the  South  as  an  "  abolition "  candidate.  The 
academy  was  opened  early  in  1860,  but,  practi- 
cally, very  little  was  done  that  year,  while  the 
omens  of  the  approaching  civil  war  soon  made  it 
doubtful  whether  the  superintendent  would  ever 
have  much  to  do  at  all.  In  fact,  with  his  accus- 
tomed vigor  and  promptness  he  wrote  this  letter, 
on  January  18, 1861,  to  the  Governor  of  the  State : 

"SiR:  As  I  occupy  a  quasi-military  position 
under  this  State,  I  deem  it  proper  to  acquaint  you 
that  I  accepted  such  a  position  when  Louisiana 
was  a  State  in  the  Union,  and  when  the  motto 
of  the  seminary,  inserted  in  marble  over  the 
main  door,  was:  'By  the  liberality  of  the  General 
Government  of  the  United  States:  the  Union — 
Esto  Perpetual 

"  Recent  events  foreshadow  a  great  change,  and 


HIS  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  17 

it  becomes  all  men  to  choose.  If  Louisiana 
withdraws  from  the  Federal  Union,  I  prefer  to 
maintain  my  allegiance  to  the  old  Constitution  as 
long  as  a  fragment  of  it  survives,  and  my  longer 
stay  here  would  be  wrong  in  every  sense  of  the 
word.  And,  furthermore,  as  President  of  the 
Board  of  Supervisors,  I  beg  you  to  take  im- 
mediate steps  to  relieve  me  as  Superintendent 
the  moment  the  State  determines  to  secede,  for 
on  no  earthly  account  will  I  do  any  act  or  think 
any  thought  hostile  to  or  in  defiance  of  the  old 
Government  of  the  United  States." 

In  accepting  his  resignation  the  Supervisors 
thanked  the  Superintendent  for  his  efficiency, 
giving  him  also  "assurances  of  our  high  per- 
sonal regard,"  and  the  Academic  Board  also 
passed  a  resolution  declaring  that  "they  can- 
not fail  to  appreciate  the  manliness  of  character 
which  has  always  marked  the  actions  of  Colonel 
Sherman,"  and  that  "  he  is  personally  endeared 
to  many  of  them  as  a  friend." 

On    returning   North,    his   old   friends    Major 
Turner  and  Mr.  Lucas  secured  for  him  the  office 
'.       2 


18  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

of  President  of  the  Fifth  Street  Railroad  in 
St.  Louis  at  a  salary  of  $2500,  and  this  he 
accepted,  beginning  the  discharge  of  his  duties 
April  i,  1861.  Five  days  later  Montgomery  Blair 
offered  him  the  chief  clerkship  of  the  War 
Department,  with  a  promise  of  making  him 
Assistant  Secretary  of  War  on  the  meeting  of 
Congress.  But  he  declined,  giving  as  a  reason 
that  he  had  "accepted  a  place  in  this  company, 
have  rented  a  house,  and  incurred  other  obli- 
gations." He  added  that  he  "  wished  the 
administration  all  success  in  its  almost  impossible 
task  of  governing  this  distracted  and  anarchical 
people." 


CHAPTER  II. 

DURING  THE  WAR. 

O  HERMAN,  however,  could  not  be  happy  from 
the  tap  of  the  drum.  About  May  i,  1861, 
he  signified  to  Secretary  Cameron  that  he  would 
be  glad  to  serve  in  the  war,  which  had  now  been 
made  certain  by  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter, 
and  on  the  i4th  of  May,  1861,  he  was  appointed 
colonel  of  the  Thirteenth  Infantry. 

The  Secretary  of  War  first  received  him  coldly, 
saying  that  he  thought  the  ebullition  of  feeling 
would  soon  subside.  Even  President  Lincoln  did 
not  then  believe  that  the  nation  would  be  plunged 
into  Civil  War. 

"Humph!"  said  Sherman,  in  his  blunt  way, 
"  you  might  as  well  try  to  put  out  a  fire  with  a 
squirt  gun  as  expect  to  put  down  this  Rebellion 
with  three  months'  troops." 

He  refused  to  go  to  Ohio  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  three  months'  troops,  declaring  that  the 

19 


20  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

whole  military  power  of  the  country  should  be 
called  out  at  once  to  crush  the  Rebellion  in  its 
incipiency.  Well  would  it  have  been  if  his  advice 
had  been  taken.  It  was  worthy  of  consideration, 
for  his  residence  in  Louisiana  had  given  him  an 
inkling  of  the  tremendous  feeling  in  the  South — a 
feeling  which  the  authorities  at  Washington  did 
not  fully  appreciate. 

As  stated,  he  was  put  in  charge  of  the  Third 
Brigade  of  Tyler's  division  in  McDowell's  army, 
which  was  at  that  time  goaded  into  premature 
action  with  the  cry  of  "  On  to  Richmond  !  "  His 
brigade  comprised  the  Thirteenth  New  York, 
Colonel  Quimby ;  the  Sixty-ninth,  Colonel  Cor- 
coran, and  the  Seventy-ninth,  Colonel  Cameron, 
and  also  the  Second  Wisconsin ;  and  to  these 
Ayres'  Battery  was  joined.  With  this  brigade 
he  took  an  active  part  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run, 
and  it  is  interesting  to  note  in  General  Sherman's 
report  how  some  of  the  traits  of  this  eminent 
soldier  were  visible  on  his  earliest  field.  "  Early 
in  the  day,"  he  says,  "  when  reconnoitering  the 
ground,  I  had  seen  a  horseman  descend  from  the 
bluff  in  our  front,  cross  the  stream,  and  show 


DURING  THE  WAR.  21 

himself  in  the  open  field  on  this  side,  and,  infer- 
ring that  we  cOuld  cross  over  at  the  same  point, 
I  sent  forward  a  company  as  skirmishers  and 
followed  with  the  whole  brigade,  the  New  York 
Sixty-ninth  leading."  Sherman's  brigade  in  that 
action  reported  in  killed,  205  wounded,  and  293 
missing. 

For  his  soldierly  qualities  in  this  battle  he  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general  ot 
volunteers,  and  was  ordered  to  join  Anderson, 
the  hero  of  Sumter,  who  was  in  command  of  the 
Department  of  the  Ohio,  with  headquarters  at 
Louisville.  General  Anderson's  ill  health  forced 
him  to  resign,  and  Sherman  succeeded  to  the 
command. 

During  a  visit  of  Secretary  Cameron  to  the 
West  General  Sherman  astonished  him  by  de- 
claring that  it  would  take  60,000  men  to  drive 
the  enemy  out  of  Kentucky  and  200,000  to  finish 
the  war  in  that  section.  This  declaration  and 
other  evidences  of  prescience,  coupled  with  his 
nervous,  energetic  manner,  actually  caused  the 
report  to  spread  that  Sherman  was  crazy ;  and 
such  a  charge  was  made  in  some  of  the  news- 


22  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

papers.  Viewed  in  the  light  of  history,  his  esti- 
mates are  seen  to  have  been  anything  but  those 
of  an  excited  imagination.  Many  times'  200,000 
men  were  required  for  the  Western  campaigns. 
But  a  very  unfavorable  impression  had  undoubt- 
edly been  created  by  this  declaration  of  the  needs 
of  the  West.  Soon  afterward  General  Buell  re- 
lieved him  from  the  command  of  the  department, 
and  Sherman  was  put  in  charge  of  the  camp  of 
instruction  at  St.  Louis. 

Grant,  who  still  had  his  spurs  to  win,  stood  by 
Sherman  in  this  opinion,  and  the  latter  never  for- 
got it.  One  day,  shortly  after  the  occupation  of 
Savannah  by  Sherman,  a  prominent  civilian  ap- 
proached him  and  sought  to  win  favor  by 
disparaging  Grant. 

"  It  won't  do,  sir,"  said  Sherman.  "  It  won't  do 
at  all.  Grant  is  a  great  general.  He  stood  by 
me  when  I  was  crazy,  and  I  stood  by  him  when 
he  was  drunk,  and  now,  by  thunder,  sir,  we  stand 
by  each  other ! " 

Early  in  1862  the  movement  in  Tennessee  be- 
gan, which  resulted  in  the  surrender  of  Fort 
Henry  and  Fort  Donelson  to  General  Grant,  fol- 


DURING  THE  WAR.  23 

lowed  by  the  advance  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten- 
nessee toward  Corinth.  Sherman  was  assigned 
to  the  command  of  a  division  in  that  army,  and 
the  early  days  of  April  found  him  established  at 
Pittsburgh  Landing,  or  rather  a  few  miles  dis- 
tant, at  Shiloh  Church.  While  there  the  three 
advance  divisions  of  Grant's  army,  those  of 
Sherman,  Prentiss  and  McClernand,  were  un- 
expectedly attacked  by  the  Confederate  forces 
under  the  command  of  Albert  Sidney  Johnston. 
A  great  battle  at  once  resulted — the  greatest,  up 
to  that  date,  ever  known  on  this  continent. 
The  leading  divisions  of  Grant  were  pressed  back 
toward  the  others  at  Pittsburgh  Landing.  At  that 
point,  however,  the  Union  forces  had  artillery 
in  position,  while  reinforcements  from  Buell's 
Army  of  the  Ohio  were  coming  upon  the  field. 
The  Confederate  commander  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  his  successor  had  been  unable  to 
drive  the  Union  troops  into  the  river  when  night 
came.  The  next  day  the  fortunes  of  the  field 
were  reversed,  and  the  two  armies  of  Grant  and 
Buell,  united  under  the  former,  drove  the  Con- 
federates back  toward  Corinth.  In  this  tre- 


24  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

mendous  battle,  lasting  two  days,  the  Union 
losses  were  13,573,  about  9600  being  killed  or 
wounded,  and  the  total  Confederate  loss  was 
10,699.  General  Sherman's  division  lost  2034,  of 
whom  318  were  killed  and  1275  wounded.  In 
his  official  report  on  that  action  General  Grant 
says :  "  I  feel  it  a  duty  to  a  gallant  and  able  of- 
ficer, Brigadier-General  W.  T.  Sherman,  to  make 
mention  that  he  was  not  only  with  his  command 
during  the  entire  two  days  of  action,  but  dis- 
played great  judgment  and  skill  in  the  manage- 
ment of  his  men.  Although  severely  wounded 
in  the  hand  on  the  first  day,  his  place -  was  never 
vacant."  Still  more  emphatically,  and  with  his 
accustomed  generosity  to  favorite  subordinates, 
Grant  said :  "  To  his  individual  efforts  I  am  in- 
debted for  the  success  of  that  battle."  General 
Halleck  reported  that  "  Sherman  saved  the  for- 
tunes of  the  day  on  the  6th  and  contributed  large-, 
ly  to  the  glorious  victory  on  the  7th." 

Halleck,  having  now  assumed  command  of  the 
combined  armies,  spaded  his  way  laboriously 
toward  Corinth,  and  when  he  arrived  there  the 
enemy  evacuated  it.  During  this  advance  Sher- 


DURING  THE  WAR.  25 

man's  division  had  important  duties  to  perform, 
and  its  commander  was  no  longer  called  crazy. 
In  fact,  he  was  made  a  Major-General  of  Volun- 
teers from  May  i,  1862,  and  was  also  put  in 
charge  of  Grand  Junction,  and  then  of  the  im- 
portant city  of  Memphis,  which  the  naval  forces 
had  captured.  At  Memphis  he  took  vigorous 
measures  for  preventing  the  trade  in  cotton  from 
being  used  for  the  good  of  the  Confederate  cause. 

The  summer  of  1862  was  passed  in  completely 
overrunning  and  subjecting  that  portion  of  Ten- 
nessee lying  west  of  the  Tennessee  River.  Sher- 
man moved  at  the  head  of  a  column  across  the 
country  toward  Memphis.  The  city  capitulated 
to  the  gunboats  on  June  6th,  and  Sherman  occu- 
pied it  and  assumed  command  July  22d. 

He  found  the  city  under  a  reign  of  terror,  but 
his  strong  arm  soon  brought  order  out  of  chaos. 
The  turbulent  element  was  quelled  and  Union 
people  in  the  city  once  more  breathed  free. 

PLAN   OF  THE   PERPENDICULAR   LINE. 

An  interesting  glimpse  into  Sherman's  scheme 
of  campaign  was  given  by  him  in  a  speech  deliv- 


26  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T,  SHERMAN. 

ered  in  St.  Louis  in  the  summer  of  1865.  "Here 
in  St.  Louis,  probably,"  he  said,  "began  the  great 
centre  movement  which  terminated  the  war ;  a 
battle-field  such  as  never  before  was  seen,  extend- 
ing from  ocean  to  ocean  almost  with  the  right  wing 
and  the  left  wing;  and  from  the  centre  here.  I 
remember  one  evening,  up  in  the  old  Planters' 
House,  sitting  with  General  Halleck  and  General 
Cullum,  and  we  were  talking  about  this,  that  and 
the  other.  A  map  was  on  the  table,  and  I  was 
explaining  the  position  of  the  troops  of  the  enemy 
in  Kentucky  when  I  came  to  this  State. 

"General  Halleck  knew  well  the  position  here, 
and  I  remember  well  the  question  he  asked  me — 
the  question  of  the  school-teacher  to  his  child — 
'Sherman,  here  is  the  line;  how  will  you  break 
that  line?'  'Physically,  by  a  perpendicular  force.' 
'Where  is  the  perpendicular?'  'The  line  of  the 
Tennessee  River.'  General  Halleck  is  the  author 
of  that  first  beginning,  and  I  give  him  credit  for  it 
with  pleasure.  Laying  down  his  pencil  upon  the 
map,  he  said,  'There  is  the  line  and  we  must  take 
it.'  The  capture  of  the  fort  on  the  Tennessee 
River  by  the  troops  led  by  Grant  followed. 


DURING  THE  WAR.  27 

"These  were  the  grand  strategic  features  of  that 
first  movement,  and  it  succeeded  perfectly.  Gen- 
eral Halleck's  plan  went  further — not  to  stop  at 
his  first  line,  which  ran  through  Columbus,  Bowl- 
ing Green,  crossing  the  river  at  Henry  and  Don- 
elson,  but  to  push  on  to  the  second  line,  which  ran 
through  Memphis  and  Charleston;  but  troubles 
intervened  at  Nashville  and  delays  followed;  op- 
position to  the  last  movement  was  made,  and  I 
myself  was  brought  an  actor  on  the  scene.  I  re- 
member our  ascent  on  the  Tennessee  River;  I 
have  seen  to-night  captains  of  steamboats  who 
first  went  with  us  there;  storms  came  and  we  did 
not  reach  the  point  we  desired.  At  that  time 
General  C.  F.  Smith  was  in  command.  He  was 
a  man  indeed.  All  the  old  officers  remember  him 
as  a  gallant  and  elegant  officer,  and  had  he  lived 
probably  some  of  us  younger  fellows  would  not 
have  attained  our  present  positions. 

"We  followed  the  line — the  second  line — and 
then  came  the  landing  of  forces  at  Pittsburgh 
Landing.  Whether  it  was  mistake  in  landing  them 
on  the  west  instead  of  the  east  bank  it  is  not  nec- 
essary now  to  discuss.  I  think  it  was  not  a  mis- 


28  LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T.  SHERMAN, 

take.  There  was  gathered  the  first  great  army  of 
the  West,  commencing  with  only  1 2,000,  then  20,- 
ooo,  then  30,000,  and  we  had  about  38,000  in  that 
battle,  and  all  I  claim  for  that  is  that  it  was  a  con- 
test for  manhood.  There  was  no  strategy.  Grant 
was  there  and  others  of  us,  all  young  at  that  time, 
and  unknown  men,  but  our  enemy  was  old,  and 
Sidney  Johnson,  whom  all  the  officers  remem- 
bered as  a  power  among  the  old  officers,  high 
above  Grant,  myself  or  anybody  else,  led  the  en- 
emy on  that  battle-field  and  I  almost  wonder  how 
we  conquered.  But,  as  I  remarked,  it  was  a  con- 
test for  manhood — man  to  man — soldier  to  soldier. 
We  fought  and  we  held  our  ground,  and  there- 
fore accounted  ourselves  victorious.  From  that 
time  forward  we  had  with  us  the  prestige;  that 
battle  was  worth  millions  and  millions  to  us  by 
reason  of  the  fact  of  the  courage  displayed  by  the 
brave  soldiers  on  that  occasion,  and  from  that  time 
to  this  I  never  heard  of  the  first  want  of  courage 
on  the  part  of  our  Northern  soldiers." 

Sherman  counted  the  war  virtually  ended  when 
Vicksburg  was  taken  and  "the  Mississippi  ran 
unvexed  to  the  sea,"  but  the  Confederates  would 


DURING  TffF  WAR.  29 

not  have  it  so,  and  there  had  to  be  more  fighting. 
Jefferson  Davis  had  the  Southerners  well  trained 
and  he  refused  to  ratify  the  work  of  the  Union 
armies. 

MOVEMENTS    AGAINST    VICKSBURG. 

In  November  Sherman  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  the  right  wing  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  conducted  an  expedition  threat- 
ening the  enemy's  rear  south  of  the  Tallahatchie 
River,  and  enabled  General  Grant  to  occupy  the 
position  without  a  fight.  In  December  he — hav- 
ing returned  to  Memphis — was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  still  con- 
tinuing, however,  in  the  general  command  of  the 
right  wing  of  the  army.  In  the  middle  of  the 
same  month  he  organized  an  expedition  com- 
posed of  the  Thirteenth  and  Fifteenth  Corps  and 
moved  down  the  Mississippi  on  transports,  with 
a  view  to  an  attack  upon  Vicksburg  from  the 
Yazoo  River,  near  Chickasaw  Bayou  and  Haines' 
Bluff.  The  surrender  of  Holly  Springs,  Miss., 
enabling  the  enemy  to  concentrate  at  the  point 
of  attack,  frustrated  the  efforts  of  the  Union 
troops. 


30  LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

The  terrible  fighting  of  December  27th,  28th 
and  29th  settled  the  fact  that  the  place  could  not 
be  taken  by  storm,  and  the  troops  were  with- 
drawn to  consummate  the  glorious  victory  of 
Arkansas  Post,  in  January,  1863.  In  this  last 
action  General  Sherman  was  subordinate  to  Gen- 
eral McClellan,  having  been  assigned  by  that 
officer  to  the  command  of  the  right  wing  of  the 
temporary  Army  of  the  Mississippi.  Upon  the 
concentration  of  troops  preparatory  to  further 
movements  against  Vicksburg  General  Sherman 
was  stationed  with  his  corps  in  the  vicinity  of 
Young's  Point.  In  March,  1863,  he  conducted  the 
expedition  up  Steele's  bayou  and  released  Admi- 
ral Porter's  fleet  of  gunboats,  which,  having  been 
cut  off  and  invested  by  the  enemy,  was  in  immi- 
nent danger  of  being  captured.  This  expedition 
was,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most  severe  ever  experi- 
enced by  his  troops.  They  penetrated  through  a 
country  cut  up  by  numerous  and  deep  bayous  and 
swamps  and  overgrown  by  immense  forests  of 
cottonwood  and  cypress.  Sherman,  with  his 
usual  determination,  was  not  to  be  thwarted,  and 
pushed  ahead  and  accomplished  his  object. 


DURING  THE  WAR.  31 


ARMY  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 

Upon  the  inauguration  of  General  Grant's 
movement  across  the  Peninsula  to  Grand  Gulf 
and  Bruinsburg,  during  April,  1863,  General 
Sherman  made  a  feint  upon  Haines'  Bluff,  on  the 
Yazoo  River.  His  demonstration  (April  28th 
and  29th)  was  intended  to  hold  the  enemy  about 
Vicksburg  while  the  main  army  was  securing  a 
foothold  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mississippi 
below.  Having  successfully  performed  this  duty, 
by  means  of  rapid  and  forced  marches  he  moved 
down  the  Louisiana  side  of  the  river,  crossed  at 
Grand  Gulf  and  immediately  pushed  forward  and 
rejoined  General  Grant's  main  army. 

Sherman,  with  his  corps,  accompanied  McPher- 
son  on  his  movement  against  Jackson,  the  capital 
of  Mississippi.  In  the  battle  of  Jackson  Sher- 
man took  no  prominent  part,  in  consequence  of 
the  rout  of  the  enemy  being  effected  by  Mc- 
Pherson's  corps  alone.  The  day  after  the  battle 
McPherson  hurried  towards  Baker's  Creek,  while 
Sherman  remained  in  Jackson  some  hours  longer 
to  complete  the  destruction  of  the  enemy's  stores 


32  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

and  the  railroad.  He  then  moved  on  a  line 
parallel  with  the  route  of  march  of  McPherson's 
column,  crossed  the  Big  Black  River  and  took 
possession  of  Walnut  Hills,  near  Vicksburg,  on 
May  i8th.  The  occupation  of  this  important 
position  enabled  General  Grant  to  open  com- 
munication with  his  depots  of  supplies  on  the 
Mississippi  River,  by  way  of  Yazoo  River  from 
Chickasaw  bayou.  During  the  siege  of  Vicks- 
burg, Sherman's  corps  held  the  left  of  General 
Grant's  lines  and  co-operated  in  all  the  combined 
attacks  of  the  centre  and  right.  During  the 
conference  between  the  rebel  commander  Pem- 
berton  and  General  Grant  in  regard  to  the  terms 
of  capitulation  for  the  garrison  and  city  of  Vicks- 
burg Sherman  was  vigorously  engaged  in 
organizing  an  expedition  at  the  Big  Black  River. 
No  sooner  had  Vicksburg  surrendered  than  he 
received  orders  to  throw  his  force  across  the 
river  and  move  out  into  the  country.  Vicksburg 
was  occupied  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  July. 
The  same  afternoon  troops  were  converging 
from  all  parts  of  the  old  lines,  and  Sherman's 
advance  had  already  crossed  the  Big  Black. 


Two  days'  march  found  Sherman  investing 
Joe  Johnson  in  Jackson.  Before  the  beginning 
of  August  he  engaged  the  enemy,  and,  defeating 
him  severely,  was  about  to  close  in  upon  his 
rear  when  the  rebel  commander  very  prudently 
withdrew. 

For  his  great  service  in  the  military  operations 
of  1863  Major-General  Sherman  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  a  brigadier-general  in  the  regular 
army,  to  date  from  July  4,  1863,  and  was  con- 
firmed by  the  United  States  Senate  February  29, 
1864. 

HE  SUCCEEDS  GRANT. 

Upon  the  assignment  of  General  Grant  to  the 
command  of  the  military  division  of  the  Miss- 
issippi General  Sherman  succeeded,  by  authority 
of  the  President,  to  the  command  of  the  Depart- 
ment and  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  to  date  from 
October  27,  1863.  After  making  some  necessary 
changes  in  the  disposition  of  the  troops  on  the 
Mississippi  River  Sherman  concentrated  portions 
of  the  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  Corps  at  Corinth, 
and  in  the  month  of  November  moved,  by  way 

of    Tuscumbia   and    Decatur,   Ala.,   to  join   and 
3 


34  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

participate  with  General  Grant  in  his  winter 
campaign  against  Chattanooga.  General  Sher- 
man's forces  moved  up  the  north  side  of  the 
Tennessee  River,  and  during  the  nights  of 
November  23  and  24  established  pontoon  bridges 
and  effected  a  lodgment  on  the  south  side, 
between  Citico  Creek  and  the  Chickamauga 
River. 

After  the  development  of  the  plans  along  other 
portions  of  the  lines  on  the  24th  Sherman  carried 
the  eastern  end  of  Missionary  Ridge  up  to  the 
tunnel.  On  the  next  day  the  whole  of  Mission- 
ary Ridge,  from  Rossville  to  the  Chickamauga, 
was  carried  after  a  series  of  desperate  struggles. 
By  the  turning  of  the  enemy's  right  and  forcing 
it  back  upon  Ringgold  and  Dalton,  Sherman's 
forces  were  thrown  between  Bragg  and  Long- 
street,  completely  severing  the  enemy's  lines. 
No  sooner  was  this  end  reached  than  Thomas 
and  Hooker  forced  Bragg  into  Georgia,  while 
Sherman,  with  his  own  and  Granger's  forces, 
moved  off  to  the  succor  of  Knoxville.  Burnside, 
by  a  gallant  defence  of  the  position,  held  out 
against  Longstreet,  who,  upon  the  appearance  of 


rm 


DURING  THE  WAR.  35 

Sherman,  was  obliged  to  raise  the  siege  and 
effected  his  escape  by  withdrawing  into  Virginia. 
The  enemy  being  defeated  at  every  point,  his 
army  broken  and  his  plans  completely  dis- 
arranged, and  Grant's  army  in  winter-quarters, 
General  Sherman  personally  left  for  Cairo,  thence 
for  Memphis,  arriving  in  the  beginning  of 
January.  After  organizing  a  portion  of  the 
Sixteenth  Corps  for  the  field  he  despatched  it 
upon  transports  to  Vicksburg. 

PUSHES  ON   TO  VICKSBURG. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  month  he  joined  it 
and  finished  the  organization  of  a  fine  body  of 
troops,  composed  of  portions  of  the  Sixteenth 
Army  Corps,  Major-General  S.  A.  Hurlbut  com- 
manding, and  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps, 
Major-General  James  B.  McPherson  command- 
ing. 

On  the  3d  of  February  the  expeditionary 
army,  commanded  in  person  by  Sherman,  crossed 
the  Big  Black,  and  after  continuous  skirmishing 
along  the  route,  entered  Meridian,  Miss., 
February  14,  1864,  driving  Polk,  with  a  portion 


36  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

of  his  army,  toward  Mobile,  another  portion 
toward  Selma,  and  completely  cutting  off  Lovell 
from  the  main  army,  pursuing  him  with  cavalry 
northward  toward  Marion.  Remaining  in 
possession  of  Meridian  four  days,  the  railroads 
converging  there  were  destroyed  within  a  radius 
of  twenty  miles.  The  army  then  returned  by  a 
different  route,  reaching  Canton,  Miss.,  February 
26th.  Turning  over  the  command  of  his  army 
to  McPherson,  with  instructions  to  devastate 
the  country  and  then  to  continue  the  return 
march  to  Vicksburg,  General  Sherman,  at  eight 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  escorted  by  the  Second 
Iowa  Cavalry,  pushed  through  in  advance  of  the 
army,  riding  over  sixty  miles  in  twenty-four 
hours,  and  reached  Vicksburg  on  the  morning 
of  February  28th.  Remaining  in  the  city  but 
a  few  hours,  he  embarked  on  one  of  the  boats 
of  the  Mississippi  Marine  brigade  and  left  for 
New  Orleans. 

At  the  expiration  of  ten  days  he  returned  to 
Vicksburg,  having,  during  his  absence,  consulted 
with  General  Banks  upon  the  Red  River  expe- 
dition, toward  which  he  was  to  contribute  a  co- 


DURING  THE  WAR.  87 

operating  column.  This  force  was  immediately 
organized  and  equipped,  and  embarked  in  March 
for  the  mouth  of  Red  River,  and  was  commanded 
by  Generals  A.  J.  Smith  and  Thomas  Kilby 
Smith,  both  veteran  officers  of  large  experience 
and  ability.  Sherman  now  left  for  Memphis. 

ON  TO  ATLANTA. 

Early  in  1864  General  Grant  was  made  Lieu- 
tenant-General  and  assumed  command  of  all  the 
armies  of  the  United  States.  Immediately  on  re- 
ceiving this  promotion,  with  characteristic  gener- 
osity, he  wrote  as  follows  to  Sherman: 

"While  I  have  been  eminently  successful  in  this 
war,  in  at  least  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  pub- 
lic, no  one  feels  more  than  I  how  much  of  this 
success  is  due  to  the  energy,  skill,  and  the  harmo- 
nious putting  forth  of  that  energy  and  skill,  of 
those  whom  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  have 
occupying  subordinate  positions  under  me. 

"There  are  many  officers  to  whom  these  re- 
marks are  applicable  to  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
proportionate  to  their  ability  as  soldiers;  but  what 
I  want  is  to  express  my  thanks  to  you  and  Mc- 
Pherson,  as  the  men  to  whom  above  all  others  I 


88  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

feel  indebted  for  whatever  I  have  had  of  success. 
How  far  your  advice  and  suggestions  have  been 
of  assistance  you  know.  How  far  your  execution 
of  whatever  has  been  given  you  to  do  entitles  you 
to  the  reward  I  am  receiving  you  cannot  know  as 
well  as  I  do.  I  feel  all  the  gratitude  this  letter 
would  express,  giving  it  the  most  flattering  con- 
struction." 

The  reply  of  General  Sherman  to  what  he  well 
called  a  "characteristic  and  more  than  kind"  letter 
is  worth  quoting  in  part,  to  show  the  relations 
which  existed  between  these  two  eminent  soldiers: 

"I  repeat,  you  do  General  McPherson  and  my- 
self too  much  honor.  At  Belmont  you  manifested 
your  traits,  neither  of  us  being  near;  at  Donelson 
also  you  illustrated  your  whole  character.  I  was 
not  near,  and  General  McPherson  was  in  too  su- 
bordinate a  capacity  to  influence  you. 

"  Until  you  had  won  Donelson,  I  confess  I  was 
almost  cowed  by  the  terrible  array  of  anarchical 
elements  that  presented  themselves  at  every  point; 
but  that  victory  admitted  the  ray  of  light  which  I 
have  followed  ever  since. 

"I  believe  you  are  as  brave,  patriotic,  and  just 


DURING  THE  WAR.  39 

as  the  great  prototype  Washington;  as  unselfish, 
kind-hearted  and  honest  as  a  man  should  be;  but 
the  chief  characteristic  in  your  nature  is  the  simple 
faith  in  success  you  have  always  manifested,  which 
I  can  liken  to  nothing  else  than  the  faith  a  Chris- 
tian has  in  his  Saviour." 

He  immediately  left  for  Nashville  and  held  a 
conference  with  General  Grant  upon  the  subject 
of  the  spring  operations.  Between  the  two  offi- 
cers there  was  a  full  and  complete  understanding 
of  the  policy  and  plans  for  the  ensuing  campaign, 
which  was  designed  to  embrace  a  vast  area  of 
country.  On  the  25th  General  Sherman  com- 
menced a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  various  armies 
of  his  command,  visiting  Athens,  Decatur,  Hunts- 
ville  and  Larkin's  Ferry,  Ala.;  Chattanooga,  Lou- 
don  and  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

Under  the  plan  of  campaign  then  arranged 
General  Grant  was  to  conduct  personally  the  oper- 
ations of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  against  Lee  in 
Virginia,  while  Sherman,  to  whom  was  given  the 
command  of  the  military  Division  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, comprising  the  entire  Western  region,  was 
to  proceed  against  Bragg's  army  at  Dalton,  which 


40 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 


had  now  been  placed  under  General  Johnston. 
Sherman,  who  had  meanwhile  received  the  thanks 
of  Congress  for  his  services  at  Chattanooga,  at 
once  addressed  himself  to  this  task.  He  had 
urged  Grant  to  stay  at  the  West>  where  he  had 
been. so  uniformly  successful,  even  though  he  him- 
self should  then  become  only  second  in  command 
there.  But  of  the  actual  plan  as  adopted  he  wrote 
to  Grant  as  follows: 

"Like  yourself,  you  take  the  biggest  load,  and 
from  me  you  shall  have  thorough  and  hearty  co- 
operation. I  will  not  let  side  issues  draw  me  off 
from  your  main  plans,  in  which  I  am  to  knock  Jos. 
Johnston  and  to  do  as  much  damage  to  the  re- 
sources of  the  enemy  as  possible.  I  have  hereto- 
fore written  to  General  Rawlins  and  to  Colonel 
Comstock  (of  your  staff)  somewhat  of  the  method 
in  which  I  proposed  to  act.  I  have  seen  all  my 
army,  corps  and  division  commanders,  and  have 
signified  only  to  the  former,  viz.,  Schofield,  Thomas 
and  McPherson,  our  general  plans,  which  I  in- 
ferred from  the  purport  of  our  conversation  here 
and  at  Cincinnati." 

In  the  course  of  his  visit  he  held  interviews 


DURING  THE  WAR,  41 

with  Major-General  McPherson  at  Huntsville, 
Major-General  Thomas  at  Chattanooga  and  Ma- 
jor-General Schofield  at  Knoxville.  With  these 
officers  he  arranged  in  general  terms  the  lines  of 
communication  to  be  guarded,  the  strength  of 
the  several  columns  and  garrisons,  and  appointed 
the  I  st  of  May  as  the  time  for  everything  to  be 
in  readiness.  While  these  commanders  were 
carrying  out  their  instructions  General  Sherman 
returned  to  Nashville,  giving  his  personal  atten- 
tion to  the  subject  of  supplies,  organizing  a  mag- 
nificent system  of  railroad  communication  by  two 
routes  from  Nashville. 

In  May,  1864,  the  campaigns  began  simul- 
taneously at  the  West  and  at  the  East.  Sher- 
man's confidence  was  indicated  by  writing  to 
Grant  that  "  from  the  West,  when  our  task  is 
done,  we  will  make  short  work  of  Charleston 
and  Richmond  and  the  impoverished  coast  of 
the  Atlantic."  In  round  numbers  he  had  an 
effective  army  of  close  upon  100,000  men  and  254 
guns.  The  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  under 
Thomas,  comprised  about  three-fifths  of  this 
strength,  with  60,000  men  and  130  guns,  while 


42  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  under  McPherson, 
had  25,000  men  and  96  guns,  and  the  Army  of 
the  Ohio,  under  Schofield,  14,000  men  and  28 

guns. 

The  store-houses  and  depots  of  Chattanooga 
soon  groaned  beneath  the  weight  of  abundance. 
The  whole  of  East  Tennessee  and  Northern  Ala- 
bama contributed  to  the  general  store,  while  the 
whole  Northwest  and  West  poured  volumes  of 
sustenance  through  the  avenues  of  communica- 
tion from  Louisville.     On  the  27th  of  April  the 
three  great  armies  of  his  division  were  converg- 
ing at  Chattanooga.     The   ist  of  May  witnessed 
over  sixty  thousand  troops  and   1 30  guns,  form- 
ing the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  Major-General 
George   H.  Thomas  commanding,  encamped  in 
the  vicinity  of  Ringgold,  Ga.     McPherson,  with  a 
portion  of  Grant's  old  veteran  and  victorious  bat- 
talions of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  numbering 
twenty-five  thousand  troops  of  all  arms  and  nine- 
ty-six guns,  lay  at  Gordon's  Mill,  on  the  historic 
Chickamauga.     General  Schofield,  with  over  thir- 
teen  thousand   troops   and    twenty-eight    guns, 
constituting  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  lay  on  the  Geor- 


DURING  THE  WAR.  43 

gia  line  north  of  Dalton.  In  the  aggregate  these 
three  armies  formed  a  grand  army  of  over  ninety- 
eight  thousand  men  and  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
four  guns,  under  the  supreme  command  of  Gen- 
eral Sherman. 

The  enemy,  superior  in  cavalry,  and  with  three 
corps  of  infantry  and  artillery,  commanded  by 
Hardee,  Hood  and  Polk,  and  all  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  lay  in  and 
about  Dalton.  His  position  was  covered  by  an 
inaccessible  ridge  known  as  the  Rocky  Face, 
through  which  ran  Buzzard  Roost  Gap.  The 
railroad  and  wagon  road  following  this  pass  the 
enemy  had  strongly  defended  by  abattis  and  well 
constructed  fortifications.  Batteries  commanded 
it  in  its  whole  length,  and  especially  from  a  ridge 
at  its  further  end,  like  a  traverse  directly  across 
its  debouch.  To  drive  the  enemy  from  this  posi- 
tion by  the  front  was  impossible.  After  well  re- 
connoitering  the  vicinity,  but  one  practicable  route 
by  which  to  attack  Johnston  was  found,  and  that 
was  by  Snake  Creek  Gap,  by  which  Resaca,  a 
point  on  the  enemy's  railroad  communication, 
eighteen  miles  below  Dalton,  could  be  reached. 


44  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

Accordingly  McPherson  was  instructed  to  move 
rapidly  from  his  position  at  Gordon's  Mill  by  way 
of  Ship's  Gap,  Villanow  and  Snake  Creek  Gap, 
directly  upon  Resaca.  During  this  movement 
Thomas  was  to  make  a  strong  feint  attack  in 
front,  and  Schofield  was  to  press  down  from  the 
north.  Thomas  occupied  Tunnell  Hill  May  /th, 
facing  Buzzard  Roost  Gap,  experiencing  little 
opposition  except  from  cavalry.  McPherson 
reached  Snake  Creek  Gap  May  8th,  surprising  a 
brigade  of  the  enemy  while  en  route  to  occupy  it. 
May  Qth  Schofield  moved  down  from  the  north 
close  on  Dalton.  The  same  day  Newton's  divi- 
sion of  the  Fourth  Corps  carried  the  ridge, 
Geary,  of  the  Twentieth  Corps,  crowding  on  for 
the  summit. 

M'PHERSON'S  ONSLAUGHT. 

While  this  was  going  on  at  the  front  the  head 
of  McPherson's  column  made  its  appearance 
near  Resaca  and  took  position  confronting  the 
enemy's  works.  May  loth  the  Twentieth  Corps 
(Hooker)  moved  to  join  McPherson ;  the  Four- 
teenth Corps  (Palmer)  followed;  the  Fourth 
Corps  (Howard)  commenced  pounding  Dalton 


DURING  THE  WAR.  45 

from  the  front.  Meanwhile  Schofield  also 
hastened  to  join  McPherson.  May  i  ith  the 
whole  army,  with  the  exception  of  Howard's 
corps  and  some  cavalry,  was  in  motion  for  Snake 
Creek  Gap.  May  i2th  McPherson  debouched 
from  the  gap  on  the  main  road,  Kilpatrick,  with 
his  cavalry,  in  front  Thomas  moved  on  Mc- 
Pherson's  left,  Schofield  on  Thomas'  left.  Kil- 
patrick drove  the  enemy  within  two  miles 
of  Resaca.  Kilpatrick  having  been  wounded, 
Colonel  Murry  took  command,  and,  wheeling  out 
of  the  road,  McPherson's  columns  crowded  im- 
petuously by,  and  driving  the  enemy's  advance 
within  the  defences  of  Resaca  occupied  a  ridge 
of  bold  hills,  his  right  resting  on  the  Oostenaula, 
two  miles  below  the  railroad  bridge,  and  his  left 
abreast  of  the  town.  Thomas,  on  his  left,  facing 
Camp  Creek,  and  Schofield,  forcing  his  way 
through  a  dense  forest,  came  in  on  the  extreme 
left 

The  enemy  had  evacuated  Dalton  and  was 
now  concentrated  at  Resaca.  Howard  occupied 
Dalton  and  hung  upon  the  enemy's  rear.  May 
1 4th  the  battle  of  Resaca  commenced;  May 


46  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

1 5th  it  continued.  The  same  night  the  enemy 
was  flying  toward  the  Etowah.  The  whole  army 
followed  in  pursuit.  May  igth  Sherman  held 
all  the  country  north  of  the  Etowah  and  several 
crossings  of  that  stream.  May  23d  the  whole 
army  was  moving  upon  the  flank  of  the  enemy's 
position  in  the  Allatoona  Mountains.  May  25th 
Hooker  whipped  the  enemy  near  New  Hope 
Church.  On  May  28th  McPherson  killed  and 
wounded  about  five  thousand  of  the  enemy  near 
Dallas.  June  6th  the  enemy  was  in  hasty  retreat 
to  his  next  position  at  Kenesaw  Mountains. 
June  8th  Blair  arrived  at  Ackworth  with  the 
fresh  troops  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps.  June 
nth  the  sounds  of  Sherman's  artillery  rever- 
berated among  the  rugged  contortions  of 
Kenesaw.  July  3d  the  enemy  was  pressing  for 
the  Chattahoochee.  The  mountains  and  Marietta 
were  occupied  by  our  forces  the  same  day. 

M'PHERSON'S  DEATH, 

The  enemy  had  a  tete  du  pont  and  formidable 
works  on  the  Chattahoochee,  at  the  railroad 
crossing.  Sherman  advanced  boldly,  with  a 


DURING  THE  WAR^  47 

small  force,  on  the  front.  July  7th  Schofield  had 
possession  of  one  of  the  enemy's  pontoons  and 
occupied  the  south  side  of  the  Chattahoochee. 
By  July  9th  Sherman  held  three  crossings.  John- 
ston abandoned  his  tete  du  pont  and  there  was  no 
enemy  north  or  west  of  the  Chattahoochee  July 
loth.  July  1 7th  the  whole  army  was  in  motion 
across  the  Chattahoochee.  July  i8th  Atlanta 
was  cut  off  from  the  east.  Rousseau,  with  an 
expeditionary  cavalry  force,  was  operating  within 
the  enemy's  lines.  July  2Oth  all  the  armies  closed 
in  upon  Atlanta.  The  same  afternoon  the  enemy 
attacked  Hooker  and  was  driven  into  his  in- 
trenchments.  On  July  22d  Johnston  was  re- 
lieved, and  Hood,  in  command  of  the  enemy, 
suddenly  attacked  McPherson's  extreme  left  with 
overpowering  numbers.  Giles  A.  Smith  held  the 
position  first  attacked  with  a  division  of  McPher- 
son's troops.  First  he  fought  from  one  side  of 
the  parapet,  when,  being  attacked  in  the  rear,  he 
fought  from  the  other.  McPherson's  whole  army 
soon  became  engaged.  The  battle  was  the  most 
desperate  of  the  campaign.  McPherson  was  killed 
when  the  contest  was  the  thickest.  His  last 


48  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

order  saved  the  army.  Logan  succeeded  to 
command.  "  McPherson  and  revenge"  rang 
along  the  lines.  The  effect  was  electric,  and 
victory  closed  in  with  the  night.  The  battle 
footed  up  9000  of  the  enemy  against  4000  of 
our  own  troops  killed  and  wounded — a  bal- 
ance in  our  favor  of  5000  dead  and  mangled 
bodies. 

This  success  gained  on  the  ist  of  September, 
1864,  was  received  throughout  the  country  with 
great  enthusiasm.  President  Lincoln  sent  this 
message  of  thanks  and  congratulation : 

.  "The  national  thanks  are  rendered  by  the 
President  to  Major-General  W.  T.  Sherman  and 
the  gallant  officers  and  soldiers  of  his  command 

o 

before  Atlanta  for  the  distinguished  ability  and 
perseverance  displayed  in  the  campaign  in 
Georgia,  which,  under  Divine  favor,  has  resulted 
in  the  capture  of  Atlanta.  The  marches,  battles, 
sieges  and  other  military  operations  that 
have  signalized  the  campaign  must  render  it 
famous  in  the  annals  of  war,  and  have  entitled 


DURING  THE  WAR.  49 

those    who    have    participated    therein    to    the 
applause  and  thanks  of  the  Nation. 

" ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 
"President  of  the  United  States." 

General  Grant  was  prompt  also  in  his  tribute 
to  the  great  exploit,  and  telegraphed  as  follows 
from  City  Point: 

"  Major-  General  Sherman: 

"I  have  just  received  your  dispatch  announcing 
the  capture  of  Atlanta.  In  honor  of  your  great 
victory  I  have  ordered  a  salute  to  be  fired  with 
shotted  guns  from  every  battery  bearing  upon 
the  enemy.  The  salute  will  be  fired  within  an 
hour  amid  great  rejoicing. 

"U.  S.  GRANT, 

"  Lieutenant-  General" 

11  FROM  ATLANTA  TO  THE  SEA.*' 

Hood  now  sought  to  repair  his  mishaps  by 
essaying  an  attack  in  his  turn  upon  Sherman's 
long  line  of  supplies  ;  and,  not  content  with  some 
successes  gained  in  that  direction,  he  undertook 


50  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

a  movement  in  force  into  Tennessee,  perhaps 
presuming  that  this  would  cause  Sherman  to  re- 
treat thither.  But  that  officer,  perceiving  that 
any  such  step  would  greatly  diminish  the  success 
of  his  Atlanta  campaign,  made  a  different  re- 
sponse. Sending  Thomas  north  with  a  portion 
of  his  own  command,  to  be  joined  by  other  forces, 
and  leaving  him  to  contest  Hood's  advance,  he 
filled  his  wagons  with  supplies,  and,  cutting  loose 
from  his  base,  made  his  famous  "  holiday  march  " 
from  Atlanta  to  the  sea,  where  he  could  open 
communication  with  the  fleet.  The  story  of  that 
march  of  300  miles  in  twenty-four  days  is  one  of 
the  most  picturesque  in  modern  warfare,  and  will 
be  the  theme  of  anecdote  and  reminiscence  till  its 
last  survivor  is  gone.  As  an  example  of  skill  in 
the  use  of  the  "  movable  column  "  on  a  grand 

o 

scale,  it  has  also  formed  the  study  and  admiration 
of  European  critics,  and  has  given  General  Sher- 
man a  very  high  place  among  modern  soldiers. 
The  march  itself  was  easily  accomplished  in  the 
absence  of  Hood's  army,  and  toward  the  end  of 
December  Sherman  was  able  to  send  a  dispatch 
to  President  Lincoln,  saying:  "I  beg  to  present 


DURING  THE  WAR.  51 

you  as  a  Christmas  gift  the  city  of  Savannah  with 
150  heavy  guns,  plenty  of  ammunition,  and  25,000 
bales  of  cotton."  The  appreciation  of  Congress 
was  expressed  in  this  resolution : 

"That  the  thanks  of  the  people  and  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  are  due  and  are 
hereby  tendered  to  Major-Gen.  William  T.  Sher- 
man, and  through  him  to  the  officers  and  men 
under  his  command,  for  their  gallantry  and  good 
conduct  in  their  late  campaign  from  Chattanooga 
to  Atlanta  and  the  triumphal  march  thence 
through  Georgia  to  Savannah,  terminating  in  the 
capture  and  occupation  of  that  city ;  and  that  the 
President  cause  a  copy  of  this  joint  resolution  to 
be  engrossed  and  forwarded  to  Major-Gen.  Sher- 
man." 

Thomas,  that  splendid  soldier,  had  meanwhile 
magnificently  fulfilled  the  part  of  the  task  as- 
signed to  him,  which,  indeed,  involved  the  harder 
fighting,  and,  after  Schofield's  handsome  check  of 
Hood's  advance  at  Franklin,  had  completely  re- 
pulsed and  overwhelmed  the  Confederate  army 
at  Nashville. 

Pausing  only  to  refit  his  command  and  fill  his 


52  LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

wagons,  Sherman,  in  February,  1865,  left  Savan- 
nah for  a  march  through  the  Carolinas.  Mean- 
while Schofield  had  been  detached  from  Thomas 
to  co-operate  in  a  march  inland  from  the  coast  of 
North  Carolina.  Moving  in  the  rear  of  Charles- 
ton, Sherman  compelled  the  evacuation  of  that 
place,  which  thereupon  fell  into  Union  hands. 
Continuing  his  march,  he  reached  and  occupied 
Columbia,  and  then,  moving  northward  to  Winns- 
borough  and  eastward  to  Cheraw  and  then  to 
Fayetteville,  he  prepared  to  form  a  junction  with 
Schonefd  and  Terry  at  Goldsborough.  But  be- 
fore this  could  be  accomplished,  he  was  twice 
heavily  encountered  by  Johnston,  who  had  re- 
sumed command  at,  Averysborough  and  Benton- 
ville.  However,  the  result  was  the  retreat  of 
Johnston  and  the  junction  of  all  the  Union  forces 
at  Goldsborough.  Meanwhile  the  campaign  in 
Virginia  had  been  renewed,  and,  after  the  great 
series  of  battles  around  Petersburg,  had  ended  in 
the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox  on  the  Qth 
of  April.  As  soon  as  the  news  reached  John- 
ston, that  officer  sent  to  Sherman  to  know  upon 
what  terms  his  own  surrender  would  be  received. 


DURING  THE  WAR.  63 


\ 


On  the  1 8th,  at  Durham's  Station,  the  two  com- 
manders agreed  on  a  basis  of  peace,  which,  how- 
ever, was  disapproved  at  Washington  as  cover- 
ing ground  not  within  General  Sherman's  powers, 
and  more  particularly  from  its  stipulations  in  re- 
gard to  the  political  status.  Subsequently,  there- 
fore, a  new  agreement  was  made  on  the  general 
basis  of  the  one  between  Grant  and  Lee. 

It  only  remained  for  General  Sherman's  army 
to  pass  in  review  at  Washington,  which  it  did  on 
the  24th  of  May,  following  the  review  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  the  day  previous.  In  this 
remarkable  display  the  mules,  goats,  cows,  poul- 
try, and  various  oddities  which  the  veterans  of 
the  march  through  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas  had 
picked  up  caused  much  amusement.  Following 
that  came  the  farewell  orders  of  their  commander, 
which  declared  the  belief  that  in  peace  good 
soldiers  would  make  good  citizens,  'and  that 
should  war  come  again  "  Sherman's  army"  would 
be  first  in  the  field. 

FAREWELL  TO    HIS   ARMY. 

General  Sherman  took  leave  of  his  army  in  an 


54  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

order  dated  May  30,   1865.     The  following  was 
the  closing  passage: 

"  Your  General  now  bids  you  farewell,  with  the 
full  belief  that,  as  in  war  you  have  been  good 
soldiers,  so  in  peace  you  will  make  good  citizens, 
and  if  unfortunately  new  war  should  arise  in  our 
country,  '  Sherman's  army '  will  be  the  first  to 
buckle  on  its  old  armor  and  come  forth  to  defend 
and  maintain  the  government  of  our  inheritance." 

Sherman's  last  campaign  excited  much  interest 
in  England.  The  Horse  Guards  began  to  study 
his  remarkable  march.  The  Duke  of  Cambridge 
went  to  preside  at  a  meeting  to  hear  an  explana- 
tion of  it  in  detail.  Sherman  became  the  hero  of 
the  war  from  an  English  point  of  view,  in  spite  of 
their  sympathy  with  the  South. 

"  On  the  1 5th  of  November  the  splendid  army 
of  brawny  western  men,  stripped  like  an  athlete 
for  the  race  and  the  struggle,  set  its  face  towards 
the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  with  banners  streaming 
and  bands  playing,  bade  farewell  to  the  smoulder- 
ing ruins  of  Atlanta." 

When  this  daring  movement  was  first  made 
public,  it  is  hard  to  say  which  was  the  more  as- 


DURING  THE  WAJ$.  65 

tonished,  the  North  or  the  South.  Nothing  had 
ever  been  heard  like  it  in  modern  warfare.  The 
rebel  editors  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  professed 
to  rejoice  at  it,  for  it  would  be  the  destruction  of 
Sherman's  army.  The  aroused  people,  they  de- 
clared, would  hang  along  his  flanks  as  lightning 
plays  along  the  edge  of  a  thunder-cloud,  and  re- 
moved beyond  all  reach  of  provisions,  so  that  his 
army  would  be  vanquished  by  starvation  alone. 
In  Europe  it  created  almost  equal  astonishment. 
Said  the  London  Times,  "Since  the  great  Duke  of 
Marlbo rough  turned  his  back  upon  the  Dutch,  and 
plunged  hurriedly  into  Germany  to  fight  the 
famous  battle  of  Blenheim,  military  history  has 
recorded  no  stranger  marvel  than  this  mysterious 
expedition  of  General  Sherman  on  an  unknown 
route  against  an  undiscovered  enemy." 

The  British  Army  and  Navy  Gazette  said: 
"  He  had  done  one  of  die  most  brilliant  or  foolish 
things  ever  performed  by  a  military  leader."  The 
Richmond  papers  scornfully  boasted  that  his 
march  "  would  lead  him  to  the  Paradise  of  fools." 
The  able  critics  of  Europe  declared  "if  he  sue- 


66  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  JVM.' T.  SHERMAN. 

ceeded  he  would  add  a  fresh  chapter  to  the  his- 
tory of  modern  warfare." 

For  boldness  and  originality  of  the  design 
and  the  ability  with  which  the  campaign  was  exe- 
cuted, it  stands  alone  in  the  history  of  modern 
warfare.  The  South  was  struck  dumb  at  his  suc- 
cess. The  North  was  jubilant  and  rang  with  his 
praises.  He  had  not  only  gotten  through  safely, 
but  he  entered  into  Savannah,  not  with  a  half- 
starved  and  exhausted  army,  but  if  possible  in 
better  condition  than  when  it  started.  The  ani- 
mals fresh  and  vigorous,  and  not  a  wagon  lost.  A 
thousand  men  would  cover  his  entire  loss  on  this 
famous  and  renowned  march." 

General  Sherman's  letters  were  in  many  re- 
spects models.  The  one  which  he  wrote  to  his 
regiment  after  the  death  of  his  child  in  Memphis 
is  most  touching.  We  also  give  one  which  he 
wrote  to  his  brother  from  Memphis,  expressing 
his  views  of  the  war  at  the  time  that  the  letter 
was  written : 

"MEMPHIS,  Tenn.,  August  13,  1862. — My  dear 
brother :  I  have  not  written  to  you  for  so  long  that 


JOSEPH    E.  JOHNSTON. 
BRAXTON    BRAGG. 


5      J.  B.  HOOD. 


2      KIRBY   SMITH. 
4      I.    LONGSTREET. 


DURING  THE  WAR.  57 

I  suppose  you  think  I  have  dropped  the  corre- 
spondence.    For  six  weeks  I  was  marching  along 
the    road   from    Corinth   to    Memphis,    mending 
roads,  building  bridges,  and  all  sorts  of  work.   At 
last,  I  got  here,  and  found  the  city  contributing 
gold,    arms,    powder,    salt,    and   everything   the 
enemy  wanted.     It  was  a  smart  trick  on  their  part, 
thus  to  give  up  Memphis,  that  the  desire  of  gain, 
to  our  northern    merchants   should  supply  them 
with  the  things  needed  in  war.     I  stopped  this  at 
once,  and  declared  gold,  silver,  treasury  notes  and 
salt  as  much  contraband  of  war  as  powder.     I 
have  one  man  under  sentence  of  death  for  smug- 
gling arms  across  the  lines,  and  hope  Mr.  Lincoln 
will  approve  it.     But  the  mercenary  spirit  of  our 
people  is  too  much  and  my  orders  are   reversed, 
and  I  am  ordered  to  encourage  the  trade   in  cot- 
ton, and  all  orders  prohibiting  gold,   silver  and 
notes  to  be  paid  for  it  are  annulled  by  orders  from 
Washington.     Grant  promptly  ratified  my  order, 
and  all  military  men  here  saw  at  once  that  gold 
spent  for  cotton  went  to  the  purchase   of  arms 
and  munitions  of  war.     But  what  are  the  lives  of 
our  soldiers  to  the  profits  of  the  merchants  ? 


68  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

"After  a  whole  year  of  bungling,  the  country 
has  at  last  discovered  that  we  want  more  men. 
All  knew  it  last  fall  as  well  as  now,  but  it  was  not 
popular.  Now  thirteen  million  (the  General  evi- 
dently intended  only  1,300,000)  men  are  required 
when  700,000  was  deemed  absurd  before.  It  will 
take  time  to  work  up  these  raw  recruits,  and  they 
will  reach  us  in  October,  when  we  should  be  in 
Jackson,  Meridian  and  Vicksburg.  Still  I  must 
not  growl;  I  have  purposely  put  back  and  have  no 
right  to  criticise,  save  that  I  am  glad  the  papers 
have  at  last  found  out  we  are  at  war  and  have  a 
formidable  enemy  to  combat. 

"  Of  course  I  approve  the  Confiscation  Act, 
and  would  be  willing  to  revolutionize  the  govern- 
ment so  as  to  amend  that  article  of  the  Constitu- 
tion which  forbids  the  forfeiture  of  land  to  the 
heirs.  My  full  belief  is,  we  must  colonize  the 
country  de  novo,  beginning  with  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  and  should  remove  four  million  of  our 
people  at  once  south  of  the  Ohio  River,  taking 
the  farms  and  plantations  of  the  rebels.  I  deplore 
the  war  as  much  as  ever ;  but  if  the  thing  has  to 
be  done,  let  the  means  be  adequate.  Don't  ex- 


DURING  THE  WAR.  69 

pect  to  overrun  such  a  country  or  subdue  such  a 
people  in  one,  two  or  five  years.  It  is  the  task  of 
half  a  century.  Although  our  army  is  thus  far 
south,  it  cannot  stir  from  our  garrisons.  Our  men 
are  killed  or  captured  within  sight  of  our  lines. 
I  have  two  divisions  here — mine  and  Hurlbut's — 
about  13,000  men  ;  am  building  a  strong  fort,  and 
think  this  is  to  be  one  of  the  depots  and  basis  of 
operations  for  future  movements. 

"  The  loss  of  Halleck  is  almost  fatal.  We  have 
no  one  to  replace  him.  Instead  of  having  one 
head  we  have  five  or  six,  all  independent  of  each 
other.  I  expect  our  enemies  will  mass  their  troops 
and  fall  upon  our  detachment  before  new  rein- 
forcements come.  I  cannot  learn  that  there  are 
any  large  bodies  of  men  near  us  .  here.  There 
are  detachments  at  Holly  Springs  and  Senatobia, 
the  present  termini  of  the  railroads  from  the 
South,  and  all  the  people  of  the  country  are  armed 
as  guerrillas.  Curtis  is  at  Helena,  eighty  miles 
south,  and  Grant  at  Corinth.  Bragg's  army  from 
Tripoli  has  moved  to  Chattanooga,  and  proposes 
to  march  on  Nashville,  Lexington  and  Cincinnati. 
They  will  have  about  75,000  men.  Buell  is  near 


60  LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T,  SHERMAN^ 

Huntsville  with  about  30,000,  and  I  suppose  de- 
tachments of  the  new  levies  can  be  put  in  Ken- 
tucky from  Ohio  and  Indiana  in  time.  The 
weather  is  very  hot,  and  Bragg  can't  move  his 
forces  very  fast;  but  I  fear  he  will  give  trouble. 
My  own  opinion  is  we  ought  not  to  venture  too 
much  into  the  interior  until  the  river  is  safely  in 
our  possession,  when  we  could  land  at  any  point 
and  strike  inland.  To  attempt  to  hold  all  the 
South  would  demand  an  army  too  large  even  to 
think  of.  We  must  colonize  and  settle  as  we  go 
South,  for  in  Missouri  there  is  as  much  strife  as 
ever.  Enemies  must  be  killed  or  transported  to 
some  other  country. 

"Your  affectionate  brother, 

"  W.  T.  SHERMAN." 

"  While  lying  along  the  pestiferous  bank  of  the 
Big  Black  River,  his  wife  and  family  visited  him, 
and  one  child  sickened  and  died.  On  his  first  ar- 
rival in  camp  he  became  a  great  pet  in  the  Thir- 
teenth Regiment  Infantry — Sherman's  old  regi- 
ment that  he  commanded  at  Bull  Run — which 
made  him  a  sergeant  and  heaped  on  him  all  of 


DURING  THE  WAR.  61 

those  little  testimonials  of  affection  which  soldiers 
know  so  well  how  to  bestow.  This  kindness  had 
touched  Sherman's  heart,  and  now  at  midnight,  as 
he  sat  in  his  room  at  Memphis  and  thought  of  his 
little  boy  pale  and  lifeless  far  away,  floating  sadly 
up  the  Mississippi,  this  kindness  all  came  back 
on  him,  and  bowed  with  grief,  he  sat  down  and 
wrote  the  following  letter  to  his  regiment :" 

"MEMPHIS,  Tenn.,  Oct.  4,  Midnight. 
"  Captain  C.  C.  Smith,  Commanding  Battalion, 
Thirteenth  Infantry — My  Dear  Friend :  I  cannot 
sleep  to-night  till  I  record  an  expression  of  the  deep 
feelings  of  my  heart  to  you  and  the  officers  and 
soldiers  of  the  battalion  for  their  kind  behavior  to 
my  poor  child.  I  realize  that  you  all  feel  for  my  fam- 
ily the  attachment  of  kindred,  and  I  assure  you  of 
full  reciprocity.  Consistent  with  a  sense  of  duty 
to  my  profession  and  office  I  could  not  leave  my 
post,  and  send  for  my  family  to  come  to  me  in  that 
fatal  climate,  and  behold  the  result.  The  child 
that  bore  my  name,  and  in  whose  future  I  reposed 
with  more  confidence  than  I  did  with  my  own 
plans  of  life,  now  floats  a  mere  corpse,  seeking  a 


62  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

grave  in  a  distant  land,  with  a  weeping  mother, 
brothers  and  sisters  clustering  around  him.  But 
for  myself  I  can  ask  no  sympathy.  On  I  must  go 
to  meet  a  soldier's  fate,  or  see  my  country  rise 
superior  to  all  factions  till  its  flag  is  adorned  and 
respected  by  ourselves  and  all  powers  of  the  earth. 

"  But  my  poor  Will  was,  or  thought  he  was,  a 
sergeant  of  the  Thirteenth.  I  have  seen  his  eyes 
brighten  and  his  heart  beat,  as  he  beheld  the 
battalion  under  arms  and  asked  me  if  they  were 
not  real  soldiers.  Child  as  he  was,  he  had  the  en- 
thusiasm, pure  love  of  truth,  honorand  love  of  coun- 
try, which  should  animate  all  soldiers.  He  is  dead, 
but  will  not  be  forgotten  till  those  who  knew  him  in 
life  have  followed  him  to  the  same  mysterious  end. 

"  Please  convey  to  the  battalion  my  heartfelt 
thanks,  and  assure  each  and  all  that  if  in  after- 
years  they  mention  to  me  or  mine  that  they  were  of 
the  Thirteenth  Regulars  when  poor  Willy  was 
sergeant,  they  will  have  a  key  to  the  affection  of 
my  family  that  will  open  all  that  it  has,  that  will 
share  with  them  our  last  blanket,  our  last  crust. 
"Your  friend. 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Maj.  Genl" 


DURING  THE  WAR.  63 

Nothing  can  be  more  touching  than  this  let- 
ter. How  it  lays  open  his  heart  to  his  soldiers. 
Ordinary  expression  of  courtesy  or  acknowledg- 
ment of  gratitude  would  not  answer.  Their  sym- 
pathy for  a  time  had  made  them  his  equals,  and 
he  writes  them  as  friends — the  dearest  of  friends 
because  friends  of  his  boy.  Their  love  for  him 
had  bound  them  to  him  by  a  tenderer  chord 
than  long  and  faithful  service  in  the  field.  And 
•what  a  heart  this  man,  this  rough  man,  as  many 
termed  him,  had.  No  man  could  write  that  letter 
in  whose  heart  did  not  dwell  the  noblest  im- 
pulses of  nature.  The  regiment  ordered  a  mon- 
ument for  the  little  sergeant,  and  had  inscribed 
on  it,  "  Our  little  Sergeant  Willie,  from  the  First 
Battalion,  Thirteenth  United  States  Infantry." 

GENERAL  SHERMAN'S   RELATIONS    WITH   HIS  MEN. 

A  distinguished  officer  of  the  Union  army,  who 
commanded  a  brigade  under  Generals  Grant, 
Sherman  and  Thomas,  and  knew  them  all  person- 
ally, mentions  a  striking  point  of  difference  in  their 
relations  to  the  armies  they  commanded.  "  I  have 
seen  Grant  ride  from  rear  to  front  of  a  moving 


64  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

column,  or  from  right  to  left  of  the  army,  receiving 
salutes  all  the  time,  but  making  none  in  return. 
He  was  never  cheered  and  never  a  word  passed 
between  him  and  the  lines.  He  always  seemed 
absorbed  in  thought,  and  with  a  cigar  held  firmly 
between  his  teeth  he  looked  straight  ahead,  as  if 
at  some  objective  point  that  nobody  else  could 
see.  He  was  too  absorbed  to  return  the  salutes, 
and  the  men  never  attempted  to  break  in  on  his 
reserve.  General  Thomas  was  a  good  deal  the 
same  way,  only  sterner  looking  than  Grant.  When 
he  rode  past  a  column  it  was  always  with  some 
definite  object  in  view,  and  he  seemed  too  full  of 
that  to  notice  anything  else.  The  men  had  the 
greatest  confidence  in  him  and  respect  for  him, 
but  there  was  never  any  familiarity  or  d<!monstra- 
tion  of  affection.  With  Sherman  it  was  entirely 
different.  I  have  seen  him  ride  from  front  to  rear 
of  a  column,  and  it  would  be  a  continuous  cheer 
the  whole  way.  Not  only  this,  but  a  con- 
tinuous exchange  of  salutations  and  remarks.  Be- 
tween their  cheers  the  men  would  shout  good- 
natured  remarks  at  '  Uncle  Billy '  and  he  would 
talk  to  them  in  return,  passing  remarks  about  his 


DURING  THE  WAR.  65 

plans,  what  we  were  going  to  do  next,  etc.  It 
seemed  to  me  sometimes  as  if  he  would  speak  to 
almost  every  man  in  the  column  while  he  was 
passing.  No  matter  what  he  had  on  his  mind  he 
never  seemed  abstracted,  and  was  always  ready 
to  chaff  the  boys.  On  horseback  he  was  the  least 
soldierly-looking  of  the  three,  and  he  had  aslouchy 
way  of  riding  that  used  to  tickle  the  boys.  But 
•what  pleased  them  most  was  his  free-and-easy 
manner  and  his  way  of  talking  to  everybody  as 
he  rode  along  the  lines.  He  got  more  cheering 
than  military  salutes." 


CHAPTER  III. 

AFTER  THE  WAR, 

A  FTER  the  war  Sherman  was  in  command  of 
the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
in  1866,  when  Grant  was  promoted  to  be  General 
of    the   Army,    Sherman   was  made  Lieutenant- 
General,  thus  clearly  indicating  public  sentiment 
as  to   the  value  of  his    military   services  to  the 
country.     When,  in    1869,  Grant   became    Presi- 
dent, Sherman  was  made  his  successor  as  General, 
with  the  proviso  that  this  grade  on  the  active  list 
should  go  to  no  other  person,  the  same  provision 
being  made  in  regard  to  the  office  of  Lieutenant- 
General,  to  which   Sheridan   was  raised.     While 
General  of  the  Army,  Sherman  visited   Europe, 
where  he  was  received  with  distinguished  honors. 
After  his  return  he  wrote  and  published  his  mem- 
oirs.    The  passage  of  the  law  of  retirement  for 
age  took  him  from  the  active  list  in  1884,  but,  as 
a  special  mark  of  national  favor,  he  was  allow- 
66 


AFTER  THE  WAR.  67 

ed  to  receive  full  pay  and  emoluments.  Since 
then  he  has  resided  in  St.  Louis,  and  later  in  New 
York.  Generally  in  vigorous  health  and  enjoying1 
life,  he  has  been  abundantly  honored  by  various 
institutions  of  learning  and  social  organizations, 
as  well  as  by  the  veteran  soldiers,  whom  he  often 
addressed  at  their  meetings,  and  by  his  country- 
men at  large,  who  have  so  long  admired  him  as  a 
noble  specimen  of  the  patriot  and  the  soldier. 

General  Sherman  has  been  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  figures  in  our  modern  life,  as  he  will 
be  in  American  history.  His  erect  figure,  with 
grim  face  that  often  relaxed  into  kindness,  his 
soldierly  ways  and  habits  of  thought,  had  come  to 
seem  a  sort  of  national  possession.  He  was  a 
most  interesting  writer  and  public  speaker,  whose 
occasional  extravagances  and  eccentricities  of 
expression  had  become  well  understood.  Now 
and  then  hasty  or  careless  in  utterance,  and 
sometimes  making  himself  trouble  thereby,  he 
was  never  commonplace.  As  a  soldier  he  knew 
well  how  to  march  and  feed  a  great  army  as 
well  as  to  engage  it  in  battle.  Of  him  it  has  just- 
ly been  said  that  he  possessed  the  "  geographical 


68  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

eye,"  which  made  every  natural  feature  in  a  land- 
scape present  itself  to  him  in  its  military  possi- 
bilities. 

ALWAYS  AT  THE  FRONT. 

Sherman  believed  in  fighting  at  the  front  of  his 
men,  and  he  always  lived  up  to  that  belief. 

"  No  man,"  says  he  in  the  closing  chapters  of 
his  memoirs,  "  can  properly  command  an  army 
from  the  rear.  He  must  be  at  the  front,  and 
when  a  detachment  is  made,  the  commander  there- 
of should  be  informed  of  the  object  to  be  accom- 
plished and  left  as  free  as  possible  to  execute  it 
in  his  own  way,  and  when  an  army  is  divided  up 
into  several  parts  the  superior  should  always  at- 
tend that  one  which  he  regards  as  most  important. 
Some  men  think  that  modern  armies  may  be  so 
regulated  that  a  general  can  sit  in  an  office  and 
play  on  his  several  columns  as  on  the  keys  of  a 
piano.  This  is  a  fearful  mistake.  The  directing 
mind  must  be  at  the  very  head  of  the  army — 
must  be  seen  there — and  the  effect  of  his  mind 
and  personal  energy  must  be  felt  by  every  officer 
and  man  present  with  it,  to  secure  the  best  re- 
sults. Every  attempt  to  make  war  easy  and  safe 
will  result  in  humiliation  and  disaster. 


AFTER  THE  WAR.  69 

'( 
HAD   NO  TASTE   FOR  POLITICS. 

\^ 

General  Sherman  loved  life  and  its  good  things. 
He  loved  a  good  dinner,  a  good  story,  a  good 
horse  and  a  good  companion.  He  idolized  his 
country,  and  his  life  was  always  at  its  service 
save  in  the  way  of  politics,  which  he  abhorred,  and 
in  a  manly  simple  way,  he  paid  a  meed  of  reverence 
to  his  Creator.  He  was  one  man  in  very  few  who 
never  listened  to  the  buzzing  of  the  Presiden- 
tial "  bee  in  his  bonnet,"  and  when  his  name  was 
mentioned  as  a  possible  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency he  did  not  coyly  hold  back  and  wait  for 
further  developments,  but  came  out  in  an  honest, 
ringing  letter  and  said  that  he  did  not  want  the 
honor  and  was  not  fitted  for  the  place. 

SHERMAN'S  FAMILY  LIFE. 

Few  happier  or  more  devoted  families  than 
that  of  General  Sherman  ever  lived.  He  was 
a  loving  and  devoted  husband  and  father,  and  very 
proud  of  his  wife  and  children.  But  one  differ- 
ence marred  the  perfection  of  their  married  life. 
Mrs.  Sherman  and  her  children  were  devoted  ad- 


70  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

herents  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  while  the 
General  held  allegiance  to  no  religious  creed. 

His  wife  was  always  eminent  in  her  church  and 
charitable  work,  and  received  in  recognition  for 
services  from  Pope  Leo  XIII.  the  emblem  of  the 
golden  rose,  a  rare  and  priceless  token,  which 
few  American  ladies  have  ever  received.  Her 
children  were  devoted  adherents  to  the  same 
faith,  and  the  prayers  of  the  entire  household 
were  centred  in  the  husband  and  father. 

In  the  summer  of  1878  a  great  disappointment 
fell  upon  the  General.  His  eldest  son,  Thomas 
Ewing  Sherman,  named  after  the  kind  foster- 
father  and  the  idol  of  his  father,  whom  the 
General  had  hoped  to  make  a  soldier,  but  finding 
this  impossible,  had  fitted  for  the  study  of  the 
law,  decided,  after  long  hesitation,  to  devote  his 
life  to  the  priesthood. 

In  a  letter  dated  June  i,  1878,  from  young 
Sherman  to  his  friend  Samuel  Elbers,  of  St. 
Louis,  which  was  published  with  his  consent,  he 
stated  what  he  proposed  to  do,  and  besought 
his  father's  friends  not  to  question  the  latter 
about  it. 


AFTER  THE  WAR.  71 

"Father,"  the  young  man  wrote,  "gave  me  a 
complete  education  for  the  Bar  at  Georgetown 
College  and  the  Scientific  School  at  Yale.  On 
me  rests  the  entire  responsibility  for  taking  this 
step.  I  go  without  his  sanction,  approval  or 
consent." 

At  the  same  time  he  expressed  his  sorrow 
for  causing  such  grief  and  disappointment  to  the 
father  whom  he  loved. 

MRS.  SHERMAN'S  DEATH. 

He  had  not  yet  entered  the  priesthood  when, 
on  November  27,  1888,  his  fond  mother  died 
suddenly  of  heart- failure.  In  his  first  grief  the 
General  refused  to  admit  the  priests  to  his 
house,  but  he  quickly  succumbed  to  the  prayers 
and  tears  of  his  children. 

The  body  was  taken  in  a  private  car  to  St. 
Louis  and  interred  in  Calvary  Cemetery  in  a 
plot  which  the  General  and  she  had  picked  out 
together  in  1866,  and  where  the  remains  of  two 
of  her  sons  and  three  grandchildren  were  sleeping. 

Father  Sherman  was  ordained  the  following 
year  in  Archbishop  Ryan's  private  chapel  in 


72  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

Philadelphia.  All  the  sisters  and  brothers  were 
present,  besides  many  notable  people,  but  the  old 
General  still  sturdily  set  his  face  against  the  step 
and  refused  to  be  present.  An  unusual  favor 
was  paid  to  the  young  priest.  He  was  made  sub- 
deacon  on  July  6th,  deacon  on  July  7th  and  priest 
on  July  8th,  preaching  his  first  sermon  the 
following  Sunday. 

HIS   BELIEF  IN  A   FUTURE   LIFE. 

Although  not  a  religious  man,  General  Sherman 
showed  his  belief  in  a  future  life  in  a  letter  which 
he  wrote  to  the  New  York  Herald  on  his  return 
from  burying  his  wife. 

"  I  expected  to  go  first,"  he  wrote,  "as  I  am 
much  older  and  have  been  more  severely  tried, 
but  it  was  not  to  be.  But  I  expect  to  resume  my 
place  at  her  side  some  day." 

Miss  Rachel  Sherman,  a  beautiful  girl,  was  her 
father's  especial  pet  and  pride.  For  years  she 
has  acted  as  his  amanuensis  and  has  written  from 
his  dictation  most  of  his  official,  business  and 
social  letters.  She  rendered  him  much  assistance 
in  getting  up  his  autobiography.  A  few  years 


AFTER  THE  WAR.  73 

ago  she  interviewed  him  on  behalf  of  the  Herald, 
and  the  result,  which  was  spicy  and  interesting, 
was  widely  read. 

The  greatest  cross  of  General  Sherman's  life 
was  that  no  son  of  his  followed  him  into  the 
army.  That  has  always  been  his  first  and  greatest 
love. 

HIS  RETIREMENT. 

On  the  8th  of  April,  1884,  President  Arthur 
issued  the  following  order  announcing  the  retire- 
ment of  General  Sherman:  "General  William  T. 
Sherman,  general  of  the  army,  having  this  day 
reached  the  age  of  sixty-four,  is,  in  accordance 
with  law,  placed  upon  the  retired  list  of  the  army, 
without  reduction  in  his  current  pay  and  allow- 
ances. The  anouncement  of  the  severance  from 
the  command  of  the  army  of  one  who  has  been 
for  so  many  years  its  distinguished  chief  can  but 
awaken  in  the  minds  not  only  of  the  army,  but 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  mingled 
emotions  of  regret  and  gratitude — regret  at  the 
withdrawal  from  active  military  service  of  an 
officer  whose  lofty  sense  of  duty  has  been  a  model 
for  all  soldiers  since  he  first  entered  the  army  in 


74  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

July,  1840,  and  gratitude  freshly  awakened  for 
the  services  of  incalculable  value  rendered  by 
him  in  the  war  for  the  Union,  which  his  great 
military  genius  and  daring  did  so  much  to  end. 
The  President  deems  this  a  fitting  occasion  to  give 
expression  of  the  gratitude  felt  toward  General 
Sherman  by  his  fellow-citizens,  and  to  hope  that 
Providence  may  grant  him  many  years  of  health 
and  happiness  in  the  relief  from  the  active  duties 
of  his  profession." 

General  Sherman  at  once  retired  to  private 
life  and  moved  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  resided 
for  a  short  time.  He  then  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  New  York  City,  where  he  has  since 
lived. 

GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  LETTER  ABOUT  HIS  BURIAL  TO 

RANSOM  G.  A.  R.  POST,  OF  ST.  LOUIS. 

In  February,  1890,  on  the  occasion  of  General 
Sherman's  seventieth  birthday,  the  members  of 
Ransom  Post,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  of 
which  General  Sherman  was  the  first  commander, 
sent  the  General  many  congratulatory  letters  and 
telegrams. 


AFTER  THE  WAR.  75 

The  old  warrior,  in  replying  to  these,  among 
other  things  said: 

."I  have  again  and  again  been  urged  to  allow 
my  name  to  be  transferred  to  the  roster  of  some 
one  of  the  many  reputable  posts  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  here,  but  my  invariable 
answer  has  been  'No,'  that  Random  Post  has  stood 
by  me  since  its  beginning  and  I  will  stand  by  it 
to  my  end,  and  then  that,  in  its  organized  capacity, 
it  will  deposit  my  poor  body  in  Calvary  Cemetery 
alongside  my  faithful  wife  and  idolized  'soldier 
boy.' 

"My  health  continues  good,  so  my  comrades  of 
Ransom  Post  must  guard  theirs,  that  they  may  be 
able  to  fulfil  this  sacred  duty  imposed  by  their  first 
commander. 

"God  bless  you  all.  W.  T.  SHERMAN." 

PERHAPS  HIS  LAST  LETTER. 

The  following,  supposed  to  be  the  last  letter 
written  by  General  Sherman,  was  addressed  to 
Benjamin  H.  Field,  of  No.  21  Madison  Square, 
and  was  dated  February  3d: 


76  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

"DEAR  MR.  FIELD: — I  thank  you  sincerely  for 
the  handsome  volume,  'Recollections  of  George 
W.  Childs,'  which  contains  such  pleasant  reminis- 
cences, some  of  which  are  personal  to  myself.  .  I 
am  sure  that  I  have  read  all  these  'Recollections' 
in  'Lippinco'tt's'  or  detached  pamphlets,  but  they 
have  increased  value  and  interest  by  being  as- 
sembled in  one  i2mo  volume,  with  good  binding 
and  good  print.  With  failing  eyes  I  notice  these 
things,  and,  while  our  newspapers  are  simply  a 
disgrace  in  their  type,  I  am  glad  to  observe  that 
our  leading  book-publishers  have  made  large  im- 
provements in  their  type,  approximating  the  more 
costly  books  of  England. 

"Mr.  Childs  takes  such  a  kindly  view  of  men  and 
things  that  it  is  refreshing  to  read  its  pages.  I 
have  partaken  of  his  hospitality  in  his  princely 
homes  at  Long  Branch,  Philadelphia  and  Wooton, 
and  know  of  no  gentleman  at  home  or  abroad  who 
better  dispenses  the  wealth  which  he  has  earned 
by  his  own  hand  and  brains.  Whilst  essentially 
American,  he  does  not  limit  his  expenditure,  as 
most  rich  men  do,  to  their  own  locality,  but  he 
takes  in  the  whole  world,  as  illustrated  by  his  me- 


AFTER  THE  WAR.  77 

morial  fountain  to  Shakespeare  at  Stratford-on- 
Avon,  and  his  memorial  windows  and  tablets  at 
Westminster  and  Winchester,  England. 

"lam  not  sure  you  know  him  personally;  if  not, 
and  you  want  to  meet  him,  I  can  bring  you  to- 
gether at  my  table  some  time  this  spring.  With 
great  respect,  your  friend, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

HIS  LIFE  IN  NEW-YORK. 

ENERAL  SHERMAN  has  been  for  five  years 
one  of  the  most  familiar  figures  in  New 
York.  He  was  a  devoted  theatre-goer,  and  it  did 
not  take  long  for  the  amusement-seeking  public 
to  learn  who  he  was  and  to  honor  him  whenever 
he  appeared  in  the  auditorium,  whether  in  a  box 
or  in  the  ordinary  orchestra  chair.  It  was  the 
custom  of  the  spectators  on  such  occasions  to  give 
evidence  of  their  knowledge  of  the  presence  of  the 
General,  and  it  was  not  an  infrequent  thing  for 
them  to  applaud  him  liberally  on  his  entrance  to 
the  theatre. 

On  one  occasion,  the  representation  of  "  Shen- 
andoah,"  at  the  Twenty-third  Street  Theatre,  the 

audience  became  so  enthusiastic  over  the  presence 

78 


HIS  LIFE  IN  NE IV-  YORK.  79 

of  General  Sherman  in  a  box  that  it  compelled 
him  by  its  applause  to  come  forward  and  make  a 
speech  from  the  box-rail.  In  all  these  demonstra- 
tions there  was  ever  evinced  the  greatest  respect 
and  love.  His  very  appearance  riveted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  spectators  and  his  civilian  dress  could 
not  disguise  the  bearing  of  the  soldier,  while  his 
stern  and  furrowed  face  always  indicated  the 
warrior. 

Another  cause  of  the  familiarity  of  the  public 
with  General  Sherman's  personality  was  his  fre- 
quent presence  at  public  dinners.  There  is  no 
association  of  any  prominence  in  New  York  City 
at  some  annual  banquet  of  which  General  Sher- 
man has  not  been  an  honored  guest,  and  on  a 
vast  majority  of  these  festive  occasions  he  made 
speeches.  At  all  celebrations,  civil  and  military 
that  the  town  has  known  since  1886,  General 
Sherman  was  conspicuous,  and  on  all  such  occa- 
sions the  same  spirit  of  reverence,  respect  and 
love  was  manifested  toward  him. 

Immediately  prior  to  1886  General  Sherman 
lived  in  St.  Louis.  In  the  latter  part  of  that  year  he 
removed  to  New  York  and  took  up  his  residence 


80  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel.  For  nearly  two  years 
he  resided  there,  and  then,  in  1888,  he  removed 
to  his  late  residence,  75  West  Seventy-first  Street, 
where  he  established  a  thoroughly  comfortable 
home  with  his  daughters.  This  house  was  com- 
paratively new  and  the  General  took  a  lively  per- 
sonal interest  in  its  fittings  and  furnishings.  He 
had  in  the  basement  what  he  was  wont  to  call  his 
office,  and  the  decorations  of  this  apartment  were 
almost  wholly  reminiscent  of  his  military  career. 
The  walls  were  adorned  with  photographs  of  his 
comrades  and  subordinates  in  the  civil  war,  each 
of  whom  he  recalled  vividly  and  about  whom  he 
was  always  ready  to  relate  some  interesting  anec- 
dote. In  the  centre  of  the  apartment  he  had  his 
working  desk,  a  plain  piece  of  ordinary  office  fur- 
niture, which  was  generally  littered  with  letters 
and  telegrams.  Close  by  this,  at  the  side  of  the 
room,  was  another  desk  at  which  his  private  sec- 
retary was  accustomed  to  sit  and  receive  daily 
instructions. 

Among  the  photographs  on  the  walls  was  a 
central  group  of  three  pictures.  The  middle  one 
of  these  was  a  full-length  likeness  of  Ulysses  S. 


HIS  LIFE  IN  NEW-  YORK.  81 

Grant  standing  in  an  easy  pose,  with  the  left  hand 
thrust  into  the  breast  of  a  fatigue  coat  and  the 
right  deep  down  in  the  trousers  pocket  To  the 
left  of  this  was  a  picture  of  Phil  Sheridan  in  full 
uniform,  and  to  the  right  was  a  picture  of  General 
Sherman  himself,  also  in  full  uniform.  He  was 
especially  fond  of  these  pictures  of  Grant  and 
Sheridan.  He  was  wont  to  say  that  he  knew  of 
no  other  likeness  of  Grant  that  showed  so  clearly 
the  repose  of  the  man.  It  had  been  taken  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  when  Grant  was  down  to  fighting 
weight,  as  the  General  expressed  it,  and  before 
he  had  become  fleshy  and  taken  on  the  heavy  look 
that  appears  in  some  of  his  later  pictures.  The 
picture  of  Sheridan  had  been  selected  by  General 
Sheridan  out  of  many  hundreds,  and  on  this  ac- 
count General  Sherman  preferred  it  to  all  others. 
He  used  to  say  that  he  loved  these  pictures  be- 
cause they  recalled  to  him  the  men  as  he  had  known 
them  best. 

His  parlors  were  simply  but  tastefully  deco- 
rated, the  two  most  conspicuous  objects  that 
adorned  them  being  a  life-size  oil  portrait  of  his 
dead  wife  and  another  of  himself.  His  household 


82  LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

was  thoroughly  democratic,  and  his  guests  were 
always  received  without  oppressive  ceremony  and 
were  made  to  feel  at  home  at  once.  He  loved 
this  home  that  he  had  made  because  of  its  peace 
and- rest.  It  was  a  refuge  from  excitement,  and 
it  was  a  pleasure  for  him  to  retire  to  it  after  the 
diversion  of  the  theatre  or  the  banquet  hall.  It 
was  in  an  excellent  neighborhood  near  Central 
Park,  and  there  the  General  loved  to  wander  on 
pleasant  days  with  his  grandchildren,  of  whom  he 
had  eight.  None  of  these  lived  with  him,  but  they 
visited  him  frequently,  and  considered  it  the  high- 
est privilege  as  well  as  the  greatest  pleasu-re  to 
walk  with  him. 

General  Sherman  was  always  a  most  delightful 
host.  His  welcome  was  cordial  and  hospitable, 
and  the  guests  felt  at  once  at  ease  while  realizing 
the  honor  and  the  privilege  of  the  association. 
As  a  raconteur  he  was  admirable.  He  had  lived 
So  long,  had  seen  so  much,  and  had  done  so  much 
that  the  least  suggestion  brought  forth  from 
him  stories  that  were  both  instructive  and  enter- 
•taining.  On  his  seventieth  birthday,  which  he 
celebrated  by  a  little  dinner  in  his  home  on  the 


HIS  LIFE  IN  NEW-  YORK.  83 

evening  of  Feb.  8,  1890,  he  said:  "Yes,  I  am 
seventy  years  old  to-day,  the  time  allotted  for  man 
to  live,  but  I  can  truly  say  that  I  have  not  felt 
better  at  any  time  within  ten  years.  Seventy 
years  is  a  long  time,  and  it  seems  a  great  while 
since  I  was  a  boy.  Still,  I  can  recall  incidents 
that  happened  when  I  was  not  more  than  four 
years  of  age."  His  memory  was  astonishing  in 
detail  and  his  mind  was  wonderful  in  vigor.  He 
could  recall  the  minutia  of  incidents  almost  from 
infancy  and  throughout  his  eventful  career. 

His  love  for  the  theatre  was  prodigious.  He 
was  deeply  interested  in  all  that  pertained  to 
the  stage,  and  he  valued  certain  actors  and  act- 
resses as  his  dearest  friends.  He  used  to  tell 
how  he  had  come  to  New  York  when  he  was  six- 
teen years  old  and  had  then  visited  the  old  Park 
Theatre,  on  Park  Row,  between  Beekman  and 
Ann  Streets.  In  those  days,  he  said  there  were 
great  star  actors,  but  the  general  average  of 
theatrical  people  was  not  high,  and  the  possibil- 
ity of  an  actress  being  received  in  social  circles 
was  not  considered.  He  gloried  in  the  change 
that  had  taken  place  in  die  interim,  and  it  was 


84  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

a  delight  to  him  to  recognize  the  fact  that  many 
of  our  actresses  to-day  might  grace  any  parlor 
with  their  presence.  He  maintained  that  it  was 
the  duty  of  all  public  men  to  foster  and  encour- 
age an  institution  so  worthy  as  the  stage. 

In  attending  public  dinners,  of  which  he 
averaged  far  more  than  any  other  man  of  his 
age,  General  Sherman  was  very  particular  as  to 
what  he  ate.  He  confined  himself  on  such  oc- 
casions to  the  plainest  dishes,  and  was  wont  to 
drink  only  a  little  sauterne  or  sherry.  He  never 
touched  champagne,  and  had  no  use  for  the 
heavier  wines.  Of  all  things  he  abhorred  what 
he  called  those  mixed-up  French  dishes  which 
might  be  anything  or  nothing.  "  Half  the 
time,"  he  used  to  say,  "  these  concoctions  are 
only  turkey  or  chicken  hash  fixed  up  with  some 
kind  of  sauce  and  called  a  croquette  or  some- 
thing of  the  kind.  I  have  no  use  for  them." 
He  had  his  own  theories  about  dining  both  in 
private  and  in  public. 

He  disliked  exceedingly  the  prevalent  custom 
of  late  dinners.  He  declared  that  all  private  din- 
ners should  be  given  at  such  an  hour  as  to  enable 


HIS  LIFE  JN  NEW-  YORK.  85 

ie  diners  to  attend  the  theatre  afterwards.  His 
great  love  for  the  theatre  probably  had  more 
to  do  with  this  position  than  his  dislike  for  late 
dinners.  He  also  advocated  plain  food  for  pub- 
lic dinners  and  deplored  the  costliness  of  modern 
banquets,  declaring  that  it  was  absurd  to  pay 
$25  a  plate  for  a  dinner.  Most  people  could 
not  eat  such  dinners,  and  those  that  could  paid 
the  penalty  of  sickness  for  their  rashness.  Fond 
as  General  Sherman  was  of  public  banquets,  he 
loved  his  home  better.  He  was  happiest  when 
he  could  gather  about  him  a  choice  circle  of 
intimate  friends  and  entertain  them  in  his  own 
house. 

When  he  attained  his  seventieth  birthday  the 
Union  League  Club  proposed  to  honor  the  event 
by  a  banquet  to  him  in  its  club-house.  He 
thanked  them  for  the  kindness  intended,  but  re- 
fused on  the  ground  that  he  had  arranged  and 
preferred  a  little  dinner  in  his  own  dining-room 
which  could  seat  but  sixteen  people.  And  so  he 
told  the  members  of  the  Union  League  that  they 
would  have  to  postpone  their  proposed  banquet 
or  else  abandon  it  altogether.  He  was  going  to 


86  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

dine  at  home  that  night,  and  with  him  he  would 
have  his  brother  John,  the  United  States  Senator 
from  Ohio,  and  General  Schofield,  General  How- 
ard and  General  Slocum,  who  had  been  his 
three  division  commanders  at  the  close  of  the  war. 
It  afforded  General  Sherman  the  greatest  happi- 
ness that  these  three  distinguished  soldiers  should 
be  with  him  that  night  and  all  in  excellent 
health. 

His  other  guests  were  Chauncey  M.  Depew, 
General  Thomas  Ewing,  General  Wager  Swayne, 
Joseph  H.  Choate,  Colonel  J.  M.  Wilson,  Super- 
intendent of  the  West  Point  Military  Academy, 
Major  Grant,  Mayor  Chapin,  of  Brooklyn,  Augus- 
tin  Daly,  J.  M.  Pinchot,  Logan  C.  Murray  and 
John  J.  Knox.  Mr.  Depew  was  very  anxious  to 
have  General  Sherman  come  around  to  the  Union 
League  Club  that  night,  after  the  dinner  in  his 
own  house,  but  the  General  replied  to  the 
suggestion:  "  How  can  I  do  that,  Chauncey ?  I 
can't  hurry  up  my  guests  in  order  to  go  to  some- 
body else's  entertainment.  You  will  have  to 
give  up  this  Union  League  scheme  of  yours/' 
And  so  Mr.  Depew  submitted  gracefully  to  the 


HIS  LIFE  IN  NEW-  YORK.  87 

inevitable,  but  a  month  later  a  grand  banquet 
was  given  by  the  Union  League  Club  in  honor 
of  General  Sherman's  birthday,  and  at  this  ban- 
quet were  present  many  of  the  most  noted  men 
in  the  United  States,  all  eager  to  honor  the  old 
chieftain. 

In  all  of  his  pleasant  and  peaceful  old  age 
General  Sherman  realized  fully  the  necessary  in- 
firmities of  increasing  years  and  the  probability 
that  death  might  remove  him  at  any  time.  The 
contemplation  of  death  had  no  terrors  for  him. 
His  position  in  this  matter  is  best  expressed  in 
the  reply  which  he  made  on  his  seventieth  birth- 
day to  a  conventional  wish  that  he  might  have 
many  happy  returns  of  the  day. 

He  said  then,  with  a  full  appreciation  of  the 
insecurity  of  life  as  well  as  of  the  fact  that  his 
race  was  nearly  run :  "I  am  too  old  to  hope  for 
many  returns  of  the  day.  And  then  life  is  so 
uncertain.  Death  seems  to  come  nowadays 
without  almost  any  warning,  but  many  a  man 
has  sprung  up  in  readiness  when  I  have  had 
the  trumpets  sounded,  and  I  am  still  a  soldier. 
When  Gabriel  sounds  his  trumpet  I  shall  be  ready." 


88  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

Gen.  Sherman's  taste  in  dramatic  matters  was 
catholic  and  liberal.  He  appreciated  every- 
thing good.  He  had  been  a  theatre-goer  in  his 
early  youth,  and  had  lively  memories  of  the  best 
actors  of  the  last  generation — Burton,  Richings, 
Wheatley,  Warren,  Forrest  and  the  elder  Booth. 
During  his  long  term  of  active  service  he  had 
few  chances  to  gratify  his  liking  for  the  drama, 
and  after  his  retirement  he  made  the  most  of 
his  opportunities.  He  told  at  the  big  supper  party 
given  in  honor  of  Edwin  Booth  by  A.  M.  Palmer 
and  Augustin  Daly,  March  31,  1889,  how,  as  a 
young  officer  in  San  Francisco,  he  sat  in  the  bal- 
cony of  his  hotel  in  1856  and  listened  longingly 
to  the  cheers  of  the  enthusiastic  settlers  who 
were  then  giving  Booth  his  first  encouragement. 

General  Sherman  was  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  The  Players,  and  an  intimate  friend  of  many 
of  the  most  prominent  actors  of  this  era.  He 
was  always  a  guest  at  important  theatrical  ban- 
quets, and  at  the  famous  supper  gived  by  Mr. 
Daly  to  celebrate  the  one  hundredth  consecu- 
tive performance  of  "The  Taming  of  the  Shrew," 
on  the  stage  of  Daly's  Theatre,  April  14,  1887, 


HIS  LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK.  89 

and  at  the  supper  party  given  by  the  same 
manager  in  Delmonico's,  March  27,  1888,  to 
Mr.  Irving  ancj  Miss  Terry,  he  presided  with 
graceful  dignity,  and  skillfully  brought  out  the 
best  wit  of  the  company.  He  was  equally  con- 
spicuous at  Mr.  Palmer's  breakfast  to  Wyndham. 
He  spoke  at  the  last  anniversary  celebration  of 
the  Actors'  Fund,  of  which  he  was  an  honorary 
member.  When  he  spoke  on  these  occasions  his 
remarks  were  always  apposite  and  worth  listen- 
ing to.  He  was  often  seen,  an  attentive  listener, 
at  the  discussions  of  dramatic  topics  before  the 
Ninteenth  Century  Club  and  other  fashionable 
debating  societies  and  classes. 

Notwithstanding  his  intimate  association  in 
the  later  years  of  his  life  with  actors  off  the 
stage,  the  acted  play  always  seemed  to  have  its 
proper  illusion  for  him.  He  was  always  deeply 
interested  in  the  story  and  impressed  by  its 
reality.  He  seemed  to  preserve,  in  common  with 
Dickens,  Thackeray  and  Charles  Lamb,  until 
the  end  of  his  life  a  youthful  freshness  of  heart 
and  mind.  The  actors  who  met  him  keenly  ap- 
preciated this  quality.  They  felt  that  he  was, 


90  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

indeed,  a  keenly  appreciative  spectator,  free 
from  all  bias  of  opinion.  If  he  has  left  diaries, 
we  may  be  sure  that  they  do  not  contain  coldly 
sententious  observations  on  plays  and  actors, 
such  as  we  find,  for  instance,  in  the  diaries  of 
John  Quincy  Adams.  Every  -habitual  theatre- 
goer will  miss  General  Sherman,  and  even  those 
who  never  had  the  privilege  of  knowing  him  will 
feel  his  death  as  a  personal  loss. 

General  Sherman  died  possessed  of  a  con- 
siderable fortune,  estimated  at  between  $150,000 
and  $200,000.  Three  years  ago  he  purchased 
the  house  in  which  he  and  his  family  resided,  at 
75  West  Seventy-first  street.  .  Like  many  army 
officers,  he  long  ago  bought  real  estate  in  grow- 
ing cities  in  the  West  and  held  the  property  as  a 
speculation.  In  this  way  General  Sherman 
cleared  a  good  deal  of  money.  He  owned,  it  is 
said,  several  houses  in  St.  Louis,  and  several 
hundred  acres  of  land  on  the  outskirts  of  Topeka, 
Kan.  Although  a  good  liver,  General  Sherman 
did  not  spend  all  of  the  $13,500  salary  received 
by  him  from  the  Government  for  many  years,  and  I 
his  savings  he  invested. 


HIS  LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK. 


91 


General  Sherman's  last  literary  work  was  done 
two  months  ago,  and  was  an  introduction  to  "A 
Woman's  Trip  to  Alaska,"  written  by  the  wife  of 
General  C.  H.  T.  Collis. 

This  picture  of  the  old  hero  at  seventy  was  some 
time  ago  published  in  a  New  York  paper. 

"General  Sherman  is  quite  gray  now.  Both  his 
hair  and  beard  are  white.  But  he  is  still  a  very 
hard-working  man.  He  lives  very  quietly  with  his 
family  at  his  house  on  Seventy-first  street,  west  of 
Central  Park.  He  is  as  accessible  as  any  man 
in  New  York,  but  he  has  a  most  direct  and  posi- 
tive way  of  dealing  with  bores.  It  has  been  stated 
ihat  the  General  is  irascible,  and  so  he  is  to  per- 
sons who  annoy  him.  To  persons  who  have  some 
real  reason  for  calling  upon  him  he  is  always  cour- 
teous. A  ringf  at  the  door  bell  of  the  General's 

o 

handsome  brownstone  residence  brings  a  pleasant- 
faced  servant  girl  to  answer  the  call. 

"The  old  fighter  is  peculiar  in  one  respect.  The 
girl  that  opens  his  door  for  visitors  never  has  to  go 
and  ask  him  if  he  is  in.  At  the  first  she  tells  one 
that  "  the  General  is  in,"  or  he  is  not.  That  set- 
tles it.  If  he  is  in  he  will  see  you.  If  you  are  a 


92  LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

bore,  as  a  good  many  of  his  callers  are,  look  out 
for  squalls,  and  under  any  circumstances  it  is  not 
well  to  be  prolix.  General  Sherman  likes  one  to 
get  to  the  point  at  once.  If  the  visitor  is  not  able 
to  do  this  he  is  likely  to  be  interrupted. 

"There  is  one  sort  of  a  caller  who  is  always  re- 
ceived with  warmth,  and  that  is  one  of  General 
Sherman's  old  soldiers,  or  his  '  boys,'  as  he  calls 
them.  Just  how  much  assistance  General  Sherman 
gives  to  old  and  unfortunate  soldiers  it  would  be 
hard  to  say.  No  one  but  himself  knows,  and  he 
won't  tell.  But  these  are  among  the  more  numer- 
ous of  the  visitors  at  his  house.  Besides  them  there 
are  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  callers  at  his  house. 

"General  Sherman  is  methodical  in  his  habits 
and  in  his  work.  He  is  an  early  riser.  He  eats  an 
early  and  a  light  breakfast,  and  afterward  is  to  be 
seen  in  his  library  at  the  end  of  the  hall  on  the 
parlor  floor  of  his  house.  He  has  a  comparatively 
large  library,  not  entirely  made  up  of  military 
books  either.  He  has  always  had  a  keen  literary 
taste,  and  there  are  few  men  who  are  better  posted 
on  the  literary  and  historical  records  of  this  and 
other  lands." 


HIS  LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK.  93 

THE  GENERAL'S  LAST  BIRTHDAY  DINNER  AT  THE 
NATIONAL  CAPITAL. 

The  last  birthday  spent  by  General  Sherman  at 
Washington  was  that  on  which  he  became  63  years 
of  age — February  8,  1883.  In  one  year  more  he 
would  have  been  retired  by  statute,  but  he  antici- 
pated the  date  by  several  months  in  closing  his 
active  connection  with  the  army.  Knowing  of  his 
purpose  to  do  this,  Colonel  George  B.  Corkhill, 
then  District  Attorney,  made  the  General's  sixty- 
third  birthday  the  occasion  of  tendering  him  an 
elaborate  dinner,  which  was  given  at  the  host's 
apartment  in  the  Portland.  Twenty-one  gentle- 
men surrounded  the  table,  of  whom  nine,  includ- 
ing the  genial  host,  have  now  joined  the  immor- 
tals. 

The  full  list  is  as  follows:  General  Sherman, 
Lieutenant-General  Sheridan,  Attorney-General 
Brewster,  Chief  Justice  Waite,  Associate  Justice 
Miller,  Associate  Justice  Stanley  Matthews,  Sen- 
ator Logan,  Senator  Allison,  Senator  Hawley, 
Senator  Sherman,  Mr.  James  G.  Blaine,  Speaker 
Keifer,  Mr.  Stilson  Hutchins,  Mr.  Frank  Hatton, 


94  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T,  SHERMAN. 

Mr.  Henry  Watterson,  Colonel  Clayton  Mc- 
Michael,  General  Van  Vliet,  Chief  Justice  Cartter, 
and  Associate  Justice  McArthur,  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  menu 
card  of  that  admirable  dinner  forms  a  historic 
souvenir.  It  is  six  large  leaves  of  cardboard  tied 
in  book  form  with  bows  of  red,  white  and  blue, 
and  embellished  on  the  outer  leaves  with  a  fine 
portrait  of  General  Sherman  and  scenes  from  his 
march  to  the  sea. 

Inside  thefirst  leaf  are  these  lines,  printed  in  blue 
with  a  red  line  border  to  the  page,  as  is  the  entire 
menu: — 

Fill  up  the  glass  !    We  drink  to-night 

To  the  dark  days  of  the  nation. 
We  drink  to  days  we  can't  forget, 

Of  camp  and  gun  and  ration. 

Fill  up !  We  drink  to  Sherman's  years, 

And  we  drink  to  the  march  he  led  us; 
To  the  hard  work  done,  and  the  victories  won, 

When  fortune  illy  served  us. 

We  drink  to  twenty  years  ago, 

When  Sherman  led  our  banner; 
His  mistresses  were  fortresses, 

His  Christmas  gift — Savannah  ! 


CHAPTER  V. 

HIS  HUMOROUS  SIDE. 

THE   OLD   SOLDIER   ALWAYS    LOVED    A   JOKE   OR    A 
GOOD   STORY. 

"  I  "HE  men  who  served  with  or  under  General 
Sherman  in  any  of  his  numerous  and  bril- 
it  campaigns  are  now  telling  anecdotes  illus- 
itive   of  that  wonderful  personality   that   has 
lade  so  deep  an  impress  upon  American  history 
luring  the  third  of  a  century  past.     It  was  in  the 
>resence  of  his  old  army  friends,  when  the  civil- 
m  world  was  shut  out,  that  he  was  at  his  best, 
id   the  flow  of  his  spirits  ran    unchecked   and 
)ke  and  story  ran  into  each  other,  sometimes  at 
le  expense  of  his  neighbor  and  as  often  at  the 
expense  of  himself.     No  conceit  gave  him  more 
imusement  than  that  his  friend  General  Howard 
ras  a  convivial  spirit,  given  to  the  bowl  and  kin- 
*ed  pursuits,  whereas  the  hero  of  the  one  arm 

95 


96  LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

is  the  most  temperate  of  men.  It  was  this  fact 
that  gave  point  to  the  joke,  and  Sherman  was 
never  more  happy  than  when  he  could  corner 
Howard  at  one  of  their  little  Loyal  Legion  dinners 
and  lecture  him  upon  the  errors  of  his  ways. 

Perhaps  Sherman  never  forgot  a  great  practi- 
cal joke  which  Howard  unconsciously  played 
upon  him  back  in  the  days  when  the  Union  army 
was  resting  upon  its  arms  at  Goldsborough.  Sher- 
man paid  a  visit  to  Howard's  tent,  where  neither 
wine  nor  anything  more  invigorating  than  cold 
water  was  kept.  As  luck  would  have  it,  Dr.  John 
Moore,  the  Medical  Director,  dropped  into  How- 
ard's tent.  Here  was  a  man  Sherman  could  de- 
pend upon  in  an  emergency  like  this. 

Sherman  gave  Moore  a  wink  when  Howard's 
back  was  turned  and  said,  "  Doctor,  have  you  a 
seidlitz  powder  in  your  quarters  ?  I  don't  feel 
just  right,  and  I  know  one  would  do  me  good." 
Moore  had  not  supplemented  a  liberal  college 
education  by  several  years  in  the  army  in  vain. 
He  was  equal  to  any  drug  clerk  of  New  York  in 
his  knowledge  of  the  meaning  of  a  wink. 

"  A  seidlitz  powder,  General  ?  Certainly.   Come 


HIS  HUMOROUS  SIDE.  .          97 

right  over  to  my  quarters  and  I  can  fix  you  out 
immediately." 

General  Howard  sprang  to  his  feet.  "  That 
\von't  be  necessary,  Doctor,"  said  he.  "  I  have 
plenty  of  powders  here,  and  good  ones,  too.  I 
will  get  the  General  one." 

Sherman  had  little  desire  and  less  need  for  a 
seidlitz  just  then,  and  he  followed  Howard  to  his 
feet.  "  Never  mind,"  said  he,  "  I  can  get  along 
very  well  without  it." 

"  No  trouble  at  all,"  Howard  answered,  as  he 
began  to  get  the  powder  and  the  glasses  ready. 
Sherman  turned  to  Moore  for  relief,  but  that  gen- 
tleman was  busy  in  examining  the  landscape  as 
an  aid  to  keep  his  face  straight.  When  that  was 
accomplished,  he  turned  about  and  gravely  said  : 
"  By  the  way,  General,  I  don't  believe  I  have  one 
about  the  premises,  and  you  had  better  take  the 
one  Howard  has  prepared."  Moore  was  some- 
thing of  a  joker  himself  and  knew  a  joke  when 
he  saw  one. 

Sherman  was  a  soldtei  to  the  backbone  and 
would  not  retreat  in  the  face  of  an  enemy. 
When  Howard  came  up  with  the  glasses,  he 


98  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

bravely  took  them  and  swallowed  the  foaming 
stuff.  But  he  never  again  complained  of  need- 
ing medicine  when  in  Howard's  tent. 

A  joke  as  good,  but  of  a  different  character, 
was  that  almost  unconsciously  perpetrated  on 
Sherman  by  an  Indian  chief.  Out  at  Fort  Bay- 
ard there  lay  for  a  long  time  an  old  cannon,  of 
no  use  to  any  one,  but  which  had  greatly  taken 
the  fancy  of  an  old  Apache  chief.  He  daily 
asked  the  commander  for  it,  but  was  put  off 
with  the  excuse  that  it  belonged  to  the  Govern- 
ment and  could  not  be  given  away.  One  day 
General  Sherman  arrived  at  the  fort,  and  the  re- 
quest of  the  chief  was  referred  to  him.  He  ex- 
amined the  cannon,  saw  that  it  was  worthless, 
and  told  the  Indian  he  might  have  it.  Then, 
putting  on  a  grave  air,  he  said  to  the  chief:  "I 
am  afraid  you  want  that  gun  so  that  you  can 
turn  it  on  my  soldiers  and  kill  them." 

"  Umph !    no,"    was    the    unexpected      reply. 
"  Cannon  kill  cowboys.     Kill  soldiers  with  club." 
General    Hickenlooper,  of  Ohio,  tells  a  story 
illustrating  Sherman's  dry  wit,  rather  at  the  ex- 
pense of  General  Corse.     In  the  fight  at  Altoona 


HIS  HUMOROUS  SIDE.  99 

a  rifle-ball  took  Corse  alongside  the  head,  making 
a  slight  wound  that,  at  the  time,  was  thought  to 
be  a  great  deal  more  dangerous  than  it  really 
was.  When  the  word  reached  Sherman  it  had 
been  greatly  magnified,  and  he  was  informed 
that  Corse's  ear  and  cheek  were  gone,  but  that  he 
would  still  hold  his  position  and  fight  it  out. 

Meanwhile  Corse  had  tied  up  his  head  and 
gone  on  with  the  business  he  had  been  sent 
there  to  do.  As  soon  as  possible  Sherman  hur- 
ried over,  full  of  anxiety,  as  to  the  amount  of 
damage  done  his  officer.  Nothing  would  do  but 
that  the  bandage  must  come  off,  so  that  he 
might  judge  of  the  damage  for  himself.  The 
surgeon  carefully  took  off  the  cloths  and  re- 
vealed a  slight  gash  across  the  face  and  a  hole 
through  the  ear.  Sherman  looked  for  a  moment 
and  then  dryly  said :  "  Why,  Corse,  they  came 
d — d  near  missing  you,  didn't  they?' 

Many  are  the  stories  told  of  that  march  to  the 
sea,  and  occasionally  the  General  would  tell 
one  himself.  Here  is  one  of  his  own  narration: 
On  one  occasion  he  had  halted  for  rest  on  the 
piazza  of  a  house  by  the  roadside,  when  it  came 


100  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 
into  the  mind  of  an  old  Confederate  who  was 
present  that  he  might  pick  up  a  bit  of  valuable 
information  by  a  little  careful  quizzing.  He 
knew  by  Sherman's  dress  that  he  was  an  officer, 
but  had  no  suspicion  as  to  his  rank.  When  he 
heard  a  staff  officer  use  the  title  of  "  General," 
he  turned  to  Sherman  in  surprise  and  said:  "  Are 
you  a  General?  " 

"Yes,  sir,"  was  the  response. 

"What  is  your  name?  " 

"Sherman." 

"  Sherman  ?  You  don't  mean  General  Sherman  ?" 

"That's  who  I  mean." 

"  How  many  men  have  you  got?  " 

"  Oh,  over  a  million." 

"Well,  General,  there's  just  one  question  I'd 
like  to  ask  you,  if  you  have  no  objections." 

"Go  ahead." 

"Where  are  youns  a  going  to  when  you  go 
away  from  here? " 

"  Well  that's  a  pretty  stiff  question  to  ask  an 
entire  stranger  under  these  circumstances,  but  i 
you  will  give  me  your  word  to  keep  it  a  secret 
don't  mind  telling  you." 


HIS  HUMOROUS  SIDE.  '101 

11 1  will  keep  it  a  secret;  don't  have  no  fear  of 
me." 

"  But  there  is  a  great  risk,  you  know.  What 
if  I  should  tell  you  my  plans,  and  they  should  get 
over  to  the  enemy?" 

"  I  tell  you  there  is  no  fear  of  me." 

• 

"  You  are  quite  sure  I  can  trust  you  ?  " 

"  As  your  own  brother." 

The  General  slowly  climbed  into  his  saddle 
and  leaned  over  to  the  expectant  Confederate, 
who  was  all  eyes  and  ears  for  the  precious  in- 
formation. "  I  will  tell  you  where  I  am  going. 
I  am  going — just  where  I  please."  And  he  did, 
and  there  was  not  enough  powder  in  the  South 
to  stop  him. 

Sherman  never  forgot  that  little  drummer  boy 
who  came  to  him  in  the  hot  fight  at  the  rear  of 
Vicksburg,  and  when  it  came  in  his  power  he 
had  the  youngster  appointed  to  the  Naval 
Academy  at  Annapolis.  The  troops  were  in  the 
heat  of  the  engagement,  when  Sherman  heard  a 
shrill,  childish  voice  calling  out  to  him  that  one 
of  the  regiments  was  out  of  ammunition,  and 
that  the  men  would  have  to  abandon  their  posi- 


102         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

tion  unless  he  sent  to  their  relief.  He  looked 
down,  and  there  by  the  side  of  his  horse  was  a 
mite  of  a  boy,  with  the  blood  running  from  a 
wound  in  his  leg. 

"All  right,  my  boy,"  said  the  General,  "I'll 
send  them  all  they  need;  but  as  you  seem  to  be 
badly  hurt,  you  had  better  go  and  find  a  surgeon 
and  let  him  fix  you  up." 

The  boy  saluted  and  started  to  the  rear,  while 
Sherman  prepared  to  give  the  required  order 
for  the  needed  ammunition.  But  he  once  more 
heard  the  piping  voice  shouting  back  at  him: 
"General,  calibre  fifty-eight.  Calibre  fifty-eight." 
Glancing  back,  he  saw  the  little  fellow,  all  .un- 
conscious of  his  wound,  running  again  toward 
him  to  tell  of  the  character  of  the  ammunition 
needed,  as  another  size  would  have  been  of  no 
use,  and  left  the  men  as  badly  off  as  before. 
Sherman  never  could  speak  too  highly  of  the 
little  fellow's  pluck;  he  asked  him  his  name, 
complimented  him,  and  promised  to  keep  an 
eye  upon  him,  which  he  did.  He  often  related 
the  story,  and  always  with  praises  for  the  little 
soldier's  bravery. 


HIS  HUMOROUS  SIDE.  103 

The  following  is  related  by  a  prominent  army 
officer: 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  ever  saw  Sherman 
angry  but  once,"  said  this  gentleman.  "  It  was 
at  a  camp-fire  before  Richmond.  He  had  just 
come  in  from  his  march  from  Raleigh  and  had  re- 
ceived the  Northern  papers  containing  the  bitter 
letters  of  Halleck  and  Stanton  criticising  him  for 
allowing  Jeff  Davis  to  get  out  of  Richmond. 
When  Sherman  read  these  letters  his  indignation 
was  furious.  Afterward,  when  he  had  calmed 
down,  he  unbosomed  himself  in  his  free,  frank 
style  to  his  staff  as  follows:  'I  went  down  to  City 
Point  with  Grant  and  met  the  President.  After 
we  had  concluded  our  council  of  war  I  said  to 
the  President :  "  Mr.  President,  what  about  Jeff 
Davis?  Do  you  want  him  captured?"  'Now, 
General,"  replied  Lincoln.  "  That  reminds  me  of 
a  story.  Some  years  ago  there  was  a  temperance 
lecturer  in  Central  Illinois.  He  had  agreed  to 
deliver  a  lecture  in  a  village  near  Springfield. 
The  night  of  the  lecture  he  had  to  drive  about 
five  miles  through  a  drenching  rain-storm,  and 
when  he  reached  the  inn  which  the  village  boasted 


104          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T,  SHERMAN. 

he  was  wet  to  the  skin.  The  hour  set  for  his  lee 
ture  was  near.  Some  friends  advised  him,  ir 
view  of  his  condition,  to  postpone  it.  He  woulc 
not  listen  to  the  advice,  but  said  the  lecture  woulc 
have  to  go  on.  '  Then  you  must  take  some  stimu 
lant  or  you  will  make  yourself  ill.'  '  Do  yoi 
think  I  need  a  stimulant  ?'  asked  the  temperance 
lecturer.  '  You  certainly  do,  and  a  strong  one, 
remarked  a  friend.  'Then  make  me  a  ho 
lemonade,'  said  the  shivering  lecturer.  'A  ho 
lemonade  will  do  you  no  good;  you  want  whiskey, 
said  the  adviser.  '  But  you  forget  that  I  am  a  tern 
perance  lecturer.'  '  No,  you  forget  your  healtl 
is  in  danger,'  was  the  reply.  '  Well,'  said  the  lee 
turer,  as  he  cautiously  surveyed  his  surroundings 
'  I  suppose  if  some  whiskey  were  to  get  into  tha 
hot  lemonade  without  me  seeing  it  I  would  not  b< 
responsible  for  it."  '  Now,'  said  Sherman,  witl 
considerable  force,  '  what  inference  was  I  to  tak< 
from  that  story?  I  believe  that  President  Lin 
coin  did  not  care  whether  Jeff  Davis  wa: 
captured,  and  that  I  was  carrying  out  his  im 
plied  wish  in  making  no  effort  to  prevent  hi: 
escape.' "  * 


HIS  HUMOROUS  SIDE.  106 

The  same  officer  told  this  story  of  the  General 
and  vouches  for  its  authenticity : 

A  SOCIAL  LION. 

"  General  Sherman,"  said  he,  "  was,  as  every- 
body knows,  a  great  diner-out,  He  loved  com- 
pany, and  was  a  delightful  companion  at  a  ban- 
quet. During  his  life  in  Washington  he  was  in 
great  demand  and  was  constantly  receiving  invi- 
tations to  luncheons,  dinners  and  receptions. 
One  afternoon  the  General  was  dressed  and 
ready  to  go  out  for  dinner,  when  he  suddenly 
stopped  and  bowed  his  head  in  thought.  Then, 
turning  to  Mrs.  Sherman,  he  said  :  '  Emily,  I  have 
an  invitation  to  dinner  somewhere  this  afternoon, 
but  for  the  life  of  me  I  cannot  remember  where 
it  is.'  '  Oh,  we  can  soon  remedy  that,'  said  Mrs. 
Sherman; 'you  stand  at  the  front  window  until 
you  see  General  Van  Vleet  coming  down  the 
street.  Go  out  and  join  him,  and  you  will  get  the 
right  place."1 

During  the  Georgia  campaign  members  of  the 
Christian  Commission  applied  for  permission  for 


106          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

its  delegates  to  pass  within  his  lines.  He  replied 
to  their  letter : 

"Certainly  not ;  crackers  and  oats  are  more 
necessary  for  the  army  than  any  moral  or  re- 
ligious agency,  and  every  regiment  has  its  chap- 
lain." 

When  afterward  he  traversed  the  long,  single 
line  of  rickety  railroad,  beset  by  guerrillas  and 
upon  which  he  was  obliged  to  depend  for  supplies 
for  his  army,  and  now  that  we  realize  how  much 
of  the  success  of  his  campaign  depended  upon 
secret  combinations  and  sudden  movements,  we 
can  appreciate  the-  necessity  for  this  stringent 
military  control  over  his  rear  communication  and 
approve  the  policy  of  the  General  who  makes  the 
material  support  of  the  army  his  first  and  con- 
stant care. 

A  good  story  is  told  of  one  who  was  on  Kene- 
saw  Mountain  during  Sherman's  advance.  A 
group  of  Confederates  lay  in  the  shade  of  a  tree 
overlooking  the  Union  camps  about  Big  Shanty. 
One  soldier  remarked  to  his  fellows  : — "  Well,  the 
Yanks  will  have  to  git  up  and  git  now,  for  I  heard 
General  Johnston  himself  say  that  General 


HIS  HUMOROUS  SIDE.  107 

Wheeler  had  blown  up  the  tunnel  near  Dalton 
and  that  the  Yanks  would  have  to  retreat  because 
they  could  get  no  more  rations." 

"  Oh !"  said  a  listener.  "  Don't  you  know 

that  old  Sherman  carries  a  duplicate  tunnel 
along  ?" 

One  day,  looking  back,  the  men  saw  a  line  of 
bridges  in  their  rear  in  flames. 

"Guess,  Charley,"  said  a  trooper,  "Uncle  Billy 
has  set  the  river  on  fire." 

Charley's  reply  was,  "Well,  if  he  has  I  reckon 
it's  all  right." 

Among  the  many  stories  told  with  great  gusto 
by  General  Sherman  while  entertaining  friends  on 
the  veranda  of  the  Fort  William  Henry  Hotel  on 
Lake  George  last  summer  was  the  following: 

"I  arrived  in  Dublin,"  he  said,  ''late  one  night 
and,  as  I  hoped,  unknown.  I  was  tired  out  and 
made  for  the  first  hotel  in  sight.  The  next  morn- 
ing I  awoke  rather  late,  but  with  the  pleasant  feel- 
ing that,  as  nobody  knew  of  my  comiug,  I  could 
pass  the  day  as  I  pleased,  writing  letters,  etc.  I 
rang  for  breakfast,  and  after  the  remnants  of  the 
repast  were  cleared  away  I  seated  myself  at  a 


108          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

table,  with  the  writing-desk  I  always  carry  with 
me,  and  began  to  answer  a  score  or  more  of  let- 

o 

ters.  In  the  midst  of  my  writing  I  heard  a  brass 
band  coming  down  the  street.  I  listened.  There 
was  something  about  the  music  that  had  a  familiar 
sound.  Yes.  It  was  that  old  air  'Marching 
Through  Georgia.'  Here  was  an  end  to  my 
quietness.  It  was  evident  that  some  one  had 
found  me  out.  I  got  up,  put  on  an  old  uniform 
coat  and  sat  down  and  waited.  The  band  came 
nearer  and  it  was  all  I  could  do  to  keep  my  feet 
still.  I  waited  for  'the  band  to  stop.  They 
neared  the  hotel — and  what?  Well  they  went 
prancing  past  the  house  and  down  the  street,  the 
music  fading  away  in  the  distance.  There  was 
something  wrong  here,  evidently.  I  took  off  my 
uniform,  put  on  another  suit  of  clothes  and  went 
down  to  interview  the  proprietor.  I  found  him 
sitting  in  solitary  magnificence  in  an  inside  i*oom. 
He  looked  at  me  without  rising. 

"'Good-morning,'  I  said. 

" '  Good-morning/  he  returned. 

"  A  pause. 

" '  I  heard  a  band  on  the  street  a   few  minutes 


HUMOROUS  SIDE.  109 

ago.  Anything  of  special  importance  going  on 
here  to-day  ? ' 

"  A  band  ?  Oh,  yes  ;  they're  bound  for  a  pic- 
nic.' 

"A  picnic?  What?  In  this  rain?'  I  forgot 
to  say  it  was  raining,  and  had  been  and  did  during 
the  most  of  my  stay  in  Ireland. 

"'Oh,  that's  nothing,'  said  the  landlord,  'It 
rains  here  the  most  of  the  time.' 

"'Do  you  remember  what  they  were  playing? 
The  air  sounded  familiar.' 

"'Yes.' 

" '  It  sounded  to  me  like  an  American  march.' 

"'An  American  march?  Humph!  It  was  an 
old  Irish  air.  I  first  heard  it  when  a  boy.  All 
the  bands  in  Dublin  play  it  as  a  march  nowa- 
days.' 

"  I  returned  to  my  room  and  finished  my  letters." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

HIS  LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DEATH. 

/^ENERAL  SHERMAN  died  Saturday  after- 
noon, February  1/j.th,  at  1.50  o'clock. 
So  gently  and  peacefully  did  the  spirit  of 
the  great  soldier  depart  that  the  sorrowing 
relatives  at  his  bedside  could  scarcely  re- 
alize at  the  time  that  death  had  completed 
its  work.  The  dying  man  was  surrounded  by 
all  of  the  members  of  his  family  except  his  eldest 
son,  the  Rev.  T.  E.  Sherman,  who  was  on  the 
Atlantic  homeward  bound. 

All  hope  of  General  Sherman's  recovery  was 
practically  abandoned  early  the  day  before.  The 
wonderful  vitality  displayed  by  the  distinguished 
invalid  had  kept  hope  alive  up  to  that  time  in  the 
hearts  of  the  affectionate  watchers.  But  soon 
after  5  o'clock  A.M.,  of  the  i3th,  there  were 

alarming  symptoms.     It  was  evident  to  Dr.  Alex- 
110 


HIS  LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DEA  TH.  Ill 

ander  that  the  General  was  sinking  rapidly.     His 
strength  seemed  to  have  been  spent. 

kin  the  belief  that  death  was  near,  the  members 
the  household,  who  had  retired  about  2  o'clock 
M.,    were    summoned    to    the    sick     chamber, 
eutenant  Fitch  and  Mr.  Thackara  had  left  the 
house  for  the  night,  and  they  were  sent  for.     It 
was  a  sad  group  that  gathered  about  the  couch  of 
the  dying  soldier  just  before  the  dawn  of  day. 
The  General  was  very  weak  indeed.     His  lungs 
were  almost  dormant,  and  but  the  faintest  bit  of 
breath  came  from  them.     The  doctors  observed 
symptoms  of  pneumonia. 

No  word  had  passed  General  Sherman's  lips 
since  very  early  Friday,  when  he  addressed  some 
brief  remark  to  his  nurse.  Members  of  his 
family  listened  eagerly  for  some  utterance  from 
him  but  none  came.  Once  or  twice  it  seemed 
to  the  watchers  as  though  the  dying  man  was 
trying  to  speak.  His  eyes  bespoke  affection- 
ate recognition  of  those  about  him,  but  his  swollen 
tongue  was  incapable  of  articulation.  His  jaws, 
too,  became  too  stiff  to  work,  and  the  great  hero 
of  the  famous  march  to  the  sea,  although  living, 


112          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

was  as  silent  and  helpless  as  a  sleeping  babe. 
The  hours  dragged  wearily  along  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  family  waited  mournfully  and  patiently 
the  coming  of  the  destroyer.  The  faithful  doctors 
could  give  them  no  hope. 

Soon  after  daylight  telegrams  were  sent  to 
General  O.  O.  Howard  at  Governor's  Island 
and  to  General  Henry  W.  Slocum  in  Brooklyn, 
asking  them  to  come  to  the  house  as  soon  as 
possible.  Both  of  these  well-known  soldiers 
were  old  comrades-in-arms  of  General  Sherman. 
They  responded  to  the  summons  as  speedily  as 
they  were  able. 

Senator  John  Sherman,  who  had  spent  the 
night  at  his  brother's  house  and  had  scarcely 
slept,  sent  the  following  dispatch  to  his  wife  at 
8.25  o'clock  A.M.: 

"  General  Sherman  still  lives,  faintly  conscious 
and  without  pain.  His  asthmatic  breathing  is 
shorter  and  his  strength  weaker." 

A  little  before  9  o'clock  the  following  bulletin, 
dated  at  8.30  o'clock  A.M.,  was  posted: 

"  The  physicians,  after  consultation,  declared  that 


HIS  LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DEA  TH.  113 

General    Sherman's    condition   is   now   hopeless. 
He  is  dying,  and  the  end  is  near. 

"  C.  T.  ALEXANDER."  . 

This    sorrowful    information    was    conveyed  to 
the  newspaper  reporters  and  to  the  police  officer 
who  was  stationed  in  front  of  the  dying  man's 
residence,  75  West  Seventy-first  street    Through 
those   mediums   it  was   imparted   to    scores    of 
passers-by,    who    stopped     to     eagerly    inquire 
about  General  Sherman's  condition.     During  the 
forenoon    several    of    the    General's    New  York 
friends  called  at  the   house,  and  upon  being  in- 
formed of  the  hopeless    situation   left   messages 
of    sympathy   for   the    family.     No    person    was 
admitted  to  the  house  except  relatives  or  very 
intimate  friends.  General  Thomas  Ewing,  brother- 
in-law   of  General  Sherman,  reached  the  house 
early  in  the  day,  accompanied  by  his  son,  Thomas 
Ewing,  Jr.     General  O.  O.  Howard  arrived  soon 
afterwards.     In   deference  to   the  wishes  of  the 
family,  no  persons    were    permitted    to   loiter   in 
front  of  the  house. 

General  Sherman    relapsed  into  unconscious- 
8 


114          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T,  SHERMAN. 

ness  about  noon,  and  for  the  two  hours  bef6re 
his  death  he  remained  in  that  condition.  Death 
%was  momentarily  expected  during  that  time,  and 
no  member  of  the  family  left  the  room.  Some 
of  the  dying  hero's  daughters  knelt  by  his  bed- 
side throughout  that  trying  period.  There  were 
present  the  General's  son,  Mr.  P.  T.  Sherman,  his 
daughters,  Miss  Rachel  and  Miss  Lizzie,  who  lived 
with  him,  his  married  daughters,  Mrs.  T.  W.  Fitch, 
of  Pittsburg  and  Mrs.  A.  M.  Thackara  of  Rose- 
mont,  Penna.;  Senator  John  Sherman,  General 
Thomas  Ewing,  Mr.  Fitch,  and  Mr.  Thackara, 
Dr.  Alexander,  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Price,  a  trained 
nurse  from  the  New  York  Hospital. 

General  Sherman  died  in  his  usual  sleeping 
apartment  in  the  rear  of  the  second  floor.  In 
other  apartments  at  the  same  time  were  General 
O.  O.  Howard,  Mr.  Barrett,  General  Sherman's 
private  secretary;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alfred  Hoyt  and 
Alfred  W.  Hoyt,  Mrs.  Colgate  Hoyt,  Miss  May 
Ewing  and  Mrs.  Kilpatrick,  widow  of  General 
Judson  Kilpatrick.  Dr.  Janeway  left  the  house  in 
the  morning,  as  soon  as  he  saw  that  the  patient's 
case  was  hopeless. 


HIS  LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DEA  Tff.  115 

About  half  an  hour  before  the  General's  death 
the  watchers  discerned  signs  of  approaching  dis- 
solution. First  the  old  soldier's  fingers  began  to 
grow  cold,  then  the  fatal  coldness  crept  slowly  up 
his  arms  and  over  his  body.  As  the  end  ap- 
proached, the  General's  head,  which  had  been 
resting  on  a  large  pillow,  was  lowered  gradually 
in  the  hope  that  he  might  be  enabled  to  breathe 
easier.  Although  he  died  from  suffocation,  caused 
by  the  mucus  from  his  inflamed  throat  filling  his 
lungs,  there  were  no  indications  of  suffering  on 
his  part.  He  sank  into  his  eternal  slumber  with 
scarcely  a  sign.  Those  who  were  nearest  his  head 
say  that  they  heard  a  gentle  sigh  escape  his  lips 
and  then  all  was  over.  It  was  just  1.50  o'clock 
when  the  famous  soldier  expired.  There  was  no 
clergyman  of  any  denomination  in  the  house  dur- 
ing the  day. 

Within  a  minute  or  two  after  General  Sher- 
man's death  one  of  his  men-servants  stepped  out- 
side of  the  front  door  and  said :  "  It  is  all  over." 

The  male  members  of  the  family  at  once  busied 
themselves  in  sending  necessary  telegrams  an- 
nouncing General  Sherman's  death.  Such  tele- 


116          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

grams  were  sent  to  President  Harrison,  Vice- 
President  Morton,  the  Hon.  Redfield  Proctor, 
Secretary  of  War;  Secretary  Elaine,  Gen.  J.  M. 
Schofield,  and  Secretary  Noble. 

Soon  the  crape  emblem  of  death  was  fastened 
to  the  front  door,  giving  silent  information  to 
every  passer-by  that  the  brave  and  honored  Gen. 
Sherman  was  no  more.  Almost  every  person  that 
passed  stopped  to  ask  the  policeman  on  guard  for 
particulars  of  the  sad  event.  But  all  that  the 
officer  could  tell  them  was:  "He  is  dead."  By 
and  by  messages  of  condolence  began  to  arrive, 
and  carriage  after  carriage  rolled  up  to  the 
house. 

A  large  number  of  well-known  New-Yorkers 
sent  expressions  of  their  sympathy  to  the  mem- 
bers of  Gen.  Sherman's  family,  and  several  called 
at  the  house  during  the  afternoon.  Among  the 
latter  were  Gen.  Steward  L.  Woodford,  Gen.  C. 
H.  T.  Collis,  and  Col.  Whitney,  all  warm  personal 
friends  of  Gen.  Sherman.  General  Collis  said : 
"  General  Sherman  had  a  presentiment  of  his  ap- 
proaching end  two  weeks  before  he  was  taken  ill. 
at  all.  We  met  on  our  way  to  an  affair  at  ex-Judge 


HIS  LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DEA  TH,  117 

Dillon's  house.  I  mentioned  the  approaching 
anniversary  of  General  Grant's  birth-day,  which 
occurs  April  27.  'I'll  be  dead  and  gone  by  that 
time,'  said  Sherman  earnestly,  with  a  foreboding 
look  in  his  eye.  I  laughed  at  the  remark  and 
tried  to  cheer  him  up,  as  he  seemed  a  bit  blue ; 
but  he  only  answered  my  jokes  with  a  more 
serious  manner,  saying ;  '  I  feel  it  coming.  Some- 
times when  I  get  home  from  an  entertainment  or 
banquet,  especially  these  wintry  nights,  I  feel 
death  reaching  for  me,  as  it  were.  I  suppose 
I'll  take  cold  some  night  and  go  to  bed,  never  to 
rise  again.'  The  words  were  prophetic.  A 
week  ago  last  Wednesday  night,  sitting  in  a  box 
at  the  theatre,  he  caught  the  cold  that  eventuated 
in  his  death." 

Dr.  C.  T.  Alexander  gave  the  history  of  Gen- 
eral Sherman's  illness.  The  doctor  had  been  al- 
most incessantly  at  the  General's  bedside  from  the 
time  his  illness  began,  and  he  had  not  had  more 
than  two  hours'  sleep  any  day  since  the  previous 
Sunday. 

"  The  General,  as  is  known,"  he  said,  "  caught 
cold  Wednesday  a  week  ago.  The  next  day  he 


118          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

attended  a  wedding  against  the  urgent  advice  of 
the  members  of  his  family.  On  Friday  I  was 
called  in  and  found  the  General  suffering  from  a 
cold  and  a  sore  throat.  On  Saturday  he  felt  so 
much  better  that  he  wanted  to  keep  an  appoint- 
ment he  had  made  for  that  day.  On  my  advice, 
however,  he  desisted,  and  spent  the  day  playing 
cards,  I  believe,  with  his  family.  Erysipelas  set 
in  on  Sunday.  He  was  flighty  that  day,  and  on 
Monday  he  became  delirious.  The  erysipelas 
spread  over  his  face,  and  the  lymphatic  glands  in 
his  neck  became  swollen.  I  applied  treat- 
ment for  the  erysipelas.  Wednesday  came 
and  there  was  no  change  for  the  better,  but  Gen- 
eral Sherman  slightly  rallied  on  Thursday  morn- 
ing. His  rally  was  not  such  as  to  insure  even 
faint  hope  of  the  General's  recovery,  and  I  so  in- 
formed Surgeon-General  Moore  at  Washington. 
Friday  was  the  turning-point  for  the  patient. 
The  erysipelas  had  almost  completely  dis- 
appeared, but  the  attack  had  left  the  General 
very  much  weakened.  His  old  complaint,  bron- 
chial trouble  and  asthma,  I  think,  killed  General 
Sherman.  In  his  weakened  condition  he  was 


HIS  LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DEATH.  119 

unable  to  throw  off  the  mucus  which  gathered 
on  his  lungs.  The  mucus  accumulated,  and  the 
General  was  slowly  strangled  to  death. 

"  I  think  he  suffered  greatly.  There  was 
always  the  quick  respiration,  the  gasp  for  breath, 
but  he  bore  everything  without  a  murmur,  and  no 
one  could  have  been  more  heroic. 

But  now  the  great  General  was  no  more.  He 
had  passed  over  the  dark  river  and  has  made  his 
last  march.  Let  the  fife  shriek  and  the  drum 
sound  the  deathless  song  that  was  written  for  him, 
and  will  never  die  so  long  as  martial  music  lives — 

Bring  the  good  old  bugle,  boys,  we'll  have  another  song — 
Sing  it  with  a  spirit  that  will  start  the  world  along — 
Sing  it  as  we  used  to  sing  it,  fifty  thousand  strong, 
While  we  were  marching  through  Georgia. 

(CHORUS.) 

"  Hurrah  !  Hurrah !  we  bring  the  jubilee  ! 
Hurrah  !  Hurrah  !  the  flag  that  makes  you  free  !  " 
So  we  sang  the  chorus  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea, 
While  we  were  marching  through  Georgia. 

How  the  darkies  shouted  when  they  heard  the  joyful  sound ! 
How  the  turkeys  gobbled  which  our  commissary  found! 


120          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

How  the  sweet  potatoes  even  started  from  the  ground, 
While  we  were  marching  through  Georgia. 

(CHORUS.) 

Yes,  and  there  were  Union  men  who  wept  with  joyful  tears, 
When  they  saw  the  honored  flag  they  had  not  seen  for  years  ; 
Hardly  could  they  be  restrained  from  breaking  forth  in  cheers, 

While  we  were  marching  through  Georgia. 

• 

(CHORUS.) 

"  Sherman's  dashing  Yankee  boys  will  never  reach  the  coast !  " 
So  the  saucy  rebels  said,  and  'twas  a  handsome  boast — 
Had  they  not  forgot,  alas  !  to  reckon  with  the  host, 
While  we  were  marching  through  Georgia. 

(CHORUS.) 

So  we  made  a  thoroughfare  for  Freedom  and  her  train, 
Sixty  miles  in  latitude — three  hundred  to  the  main  ; 
Treason  fled  before  us,  for  resistance  was  in  vain, 
WThile  we  were  marching  through  Georgia. 

(CHORUS.) 
BEFORE  THE  FUNERAL. 

Some  two  weeks  before  his  death  General 
Sherman  made  known  his  wishes  as  to  his  burial. 
He  particularly  requested  that  his  body  should 
not  lie  in  state  anywhere. 

He  also  requested  that  the  funeral  be  a  strictly 


HIS  LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DFA  TH.  121 

military  one.  He  said  he  did  not  care  partic- 
ularly for  any  military  observances  here  in  New 
York,  but  that  he  did  want  a  military  burial  in  St. 
LiOuis,  which  would  be  participated  in  by  his 
old  comrades  in  arms.  He  also  requested  that  the 
funeral  rites  be  not  in  conformity  with  any 
particular  form  of  religion.  He  wanted  a  soldier's 
burial. 

In  the  evening  a  number  of  veterans  called  at  the 
house,  and  expressed  surprise  when  told  they  could 
not  enter,  and  were  more  surprised  when  told 
that  General  Sherman's  body  would  not  lie  in  state. 
"  It's  pretty  hard  not  to  be  able  to  look  on  the 
face  of  our  old  commander  again,"  said  one, 
and  this  seemed  the  opinion  also  of  his  com- 
panions. A  military  guard  was  placed  in  the 
hall-way  of  the  residence  at  7.30  o'clock  in  the 
evening  and  remained  there  until  the  body 
removed.  The  guard  consist  of  two  men  from 
the  First  Regiment,  United  States  Artillery. 

The  casket  was  of  oak,  with  black  broadcloth 
covering.  The  lining  of  white  satin  and  the  bars 
and  mountings  of  silver.  The  silver  plate  bore  a 
very  simple  and  brief  inscription : 


122         LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

WILLIAM   TECUMSEH    SHERMAN. 

Born  Feb.  8,  1820. 
Died  Feb.  14,  1891. 

It  was  General  Sherman's  own  wish  that  his 
body  should  not  lie  in  state  or  his  face  be  shown 
after  death  to  any  but  his  family  and  nearest 
friends.  He  left  explicit  directions  on  this 

subject. 

At  the  earnest  solicitation,  however,  of  thousands 
of  General  Sherman's  friends,  his  family  finally 
decided  to  allow  the  public  to  see  the  remains. 

« In  the  darkened  parlors  of  his  home  lay  the 
body  of  General  Sherman,  with  the  trappings  of 
his  rank  set  off  by  flowers  sent  by  loving  friends, 
heedless  of  them  all  and  of  the  sad  procession 
which  passed  beside  the  coffin. 

"  How  grand  a  face  it  was !  How  steady,  firm, 
untroubled !  How  high  and  broad  the  forehead, 
and  what  tracings  of  the  soldier  were  written 
deep  by  the  hand  of  time  in  the  lines  about  the 
austere  yet  kindly  mouth,  and  the  bold,  aquiline 
nose  and  adamantine  chin  ! 

"  From  ten  to  four  the  doors  of  the  Sherman 
mansion  were  left  open  to  the  public,  and  during 


HIS  LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DEA  TH.  123 

the  six  hours  a  steady  stream  of  callers  passed 
into  the  house  and  looked  upon  the  dead.  Armed 
sentinels  stood  at  each  door  to  see  that  no  un- 
worthy person  was  given  access,  but  no  one  of 
decent  appearance  and  serious  mien  was  barred 
out. 

"  The  coffin  was  placed  in  the  middle  room, 
between  the.  front  parlor  and  the  dining-room, 
resting  on  a  catafalque,  and  the  soft  illumination 
from  seven  tapers  which  stood  in  a  tall,  brass  can- 
delabra at  the  head  fell  like  a  benediction  upon 
the  face.  A  glass  cover  was  above  the  face,  and 
all  that  could  be  seen  through  this  sombre  frame 
was  the  face  and  bust  clothed  in  the  General's 
uniform,  with  yellow  sash,  and  the  right  hand  lying 
peacefully  upon  the  breast. 

REMEMBERED   BY   MRS.   PORTER. 

"  There  were  no  flowers  on  the  casket,  nothing 
but  the  accoutrements  used  on  any  such  occasion — 
the  gold  and  diamond  hiked  sword  presented  by 
the  State  of  New  York  and  the  cap — but  just 
beyond  the  head  was  a  phalanx  of  magnificent 
floral  tributes,  and  the  dark  pedestal  of  the  marble 


124         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

bust  of  Sherman  which  stood  beside  the  foot  of 
the  coffin  was  decorated  with  a  wreath  of  ivy. 

"  In  the  front  parlor,  not  far  away,  hung  the 
life  size  portraits  of  the  General  and  his  wife,  the 
former  festooned  by  two  large  flags,  one  of  which 
was  his  blue  headquarter's  flag,  the  other  a  large 
silken  banner  made  and  presented  by  some  ladies. 

"  Beside  the  big  candlesticks  was  the  token 
which  touched  deeper  than  all  else  the  hearts 
of  the  mourning  family.  It  was  an  exquisite 
pillow  wrought  in  violets,  which  came  from  Wash- 
ington the  day  before  '  with  loving  regards,'  from 
the  newly-made  widow  of  Admiral  Porter. 

"  There  was  one  busy  figure  in  the  room,  to 
whose  deft  fingers  was  due  the  credit  for  the 
tasteful  adorning  of  the  place.  It  was  the 
widow  of  the  famous  cavalry  general,  Judson 
Kilpatrick,  who  has  been  at  the  house  every  day 
since  death  entered  it,  performing  little  offices  of 
friendship  such  as  only  a  woman  can  do." 

EXPRESSING   SYMPATHY. 

Among  the  floral  tributes  were  some  lovely 
palms  sent  from  Ohio  by  the  grandchildren  of 
Zachary  Taylor  ;  a  wreath  of  ivy  and  white  lilacs, 


HIS  LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DEA  TH.  125 

( 
presented    by    Mme.    Macchetta    d'Allegri   and 

Blanche  Roosevelt,  of  Paris ;  a  pillow  of  roses  and 
calla  lilies  from  the  Ohio  Commandery  of  the 
Loyal  Legion,  a  bunch  of  callas  from  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Benjamin  Field,  a  wreath  of  ivy  from  Mrs. 
Lawton  and  a  bunch  of  lilies  from  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Pinchat. 

As  the  afternoon  passed  the  crowd  increased, 
and  by  night  thousands  of  people  of  all  classes, 
ages  and  sexes  had  taken  a  last  look  at  the  face 
of  the  nation's  dead  General.  It  was  one  of  the 
grandest  testimonials  of.  respect  and  love  that 
could  be  paid  by  an  appreciative  public  to  one 
who  had  been  a  leader  in  times  of  trouble  and  a 
friend  and  one  of  the  people  in  time  of  peace. 
As  the  stream  of  persons  entered  the  house, 
passed  by  the  casket  and  then  out  into  the  street 
again,  many  touching  scenes  were  witnessed, 
Many  old  soldiers — some,  in  the  uniform  of  the 
Grand  Army — were  unable  to  restrain  their  grief. 

At  half-past  five  the  doors  were  closed  and  the 
family  and  others  of  the  household  assembled  in 
the  parlor  and  took  their  final  look  at  the  face  of 
their  father,  brother,  friend. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  FUNERAL.  * 

"VIEW  YORK  gave  General  Sherman  yester- 
day a  most  impressive  farewell.  The  sun  at 
noon  shone  upon  a  city  draped  with  the  emblems 
of  sorrow.  It  shed  upon  the  parting  at  dusk, 
when  the  escorting  army,  with  trailing  arms  and 
shrouded  flags,  had  discharged  its  tender  office,  a 
glowing  benediction.  The  heart  of  the  com- 
munity was  touched  by  this  event  as  it  had  not 
been  since  the  chieftain  of  the  qreat  triumvirate 

O 

of  Generals  of  the  rebellion   passed  to  his  final 
bivouac  at  Riverside. 

Again  the  people  laid  aside  their  usual  pursuits 
and  thronged  the  line  of  march,  a  countless, 
hushed  multitude.  From  end  to  end  the  route 
was  lined  almost  to  the  point  of  crushing  with 
those  whose  presence  will  make  the  day  memor- 
able alike  for  its  occasion  and  for  the  number  of 

*  From  The  New  York  Times, 
126 


THE  FUNERAL.  127 

its  participants  as  witnesses,  for  the  multitude 
became  more  than  mere  lookers-on  when  by  the 
block  they  stood  uncovered  while  the  caisson  with 
its  flag-wrapped  burden  and  the  carriages  of  the 
mourners  passed  along. 

A  soldier's  funeral  it  was  above  all  else,  but  it 
was  more  than  that.  For  miles  the  streets  were 
in  the  sombre  garb  of  almost  continuous  crape- 
bound  draperies.  The  wealth  of  tribute  of  this 
kind  made  in  itself  a  splendid  offering  to  a  hero's 
memory.  No  section  stood  alone  or  conspicuous 
in  so  honoring  the  event.  From  the  neighbor- 
hood in  which  the  old  General  had  his  home  to 
the  ferry  at  which  his  body  was  embarked,  the 
decorative  remembrances  of  the  affection  in  which 
his  fellow-citizens  held  him  were  lavish  and  beau- 
tiful. The  city  became  one  great  neighborhood 
in  its  desire  to  express  a  common  bereavement. 

It  was  more  than  a  soldier's  funeral  also  be- 
cause of  the  memories  inspired,  and  the  evidences 
it  displayed  of  the  depleted  veteran  ranks.  Bent 
and  grizzled  was  the  remnant  of  comrades  in  the 
march  to  the  sea  who  turned  out  yesterday.  The 
canes  the  Grand  Army  men  carried  were  plainly 


128         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

no  longer  mere  switches  to  all,  and  the  efforts  of 
many  to  conceal  any  real  use  for  them  had  a 
touch  of  pathos  about  it  that  the  multitude  were 
not  slow  to  see  and  appreciate.  Over  parts  of 
the  route  there  were  uncovering  of  heads  and 
tears  in  the  eyes  of  women  when  the  old  soldiers 
passed,  as  though,  perhaps,  they  might  not  be 
seen  together  in  such  numbers  much  longer. 
The  tolling  church  bells  were  sad  indeed,  as  the 
Grand  Army  moved  along. 

Outward  tokens  for  the  day  were  not  confined 
to  the  line  of  march.  They  hung  from  house- 
fronts  and  shaded  windows,  and  fluttered  from 
flagstaffs  throughout  the  metropolitan  district. 
From  the  highest  perch  the  outlook  all  day  in 
every  direction  was  dotted  with  flags  at  half-staff 
on  land,  at  half-mast  on  the  water.  All  the  ship- 
ping on  both  rivers,  in  the  Sound  and  in  the  bay 
was  dressed  for  the  sad  occasion,  and  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach  on  Long  Island,  into  New 
Jersey,  and  on  Staten  Island,  the  flag  floated 
below  the  peak. 

Office  and  business  buildings  all  over  the  city, 
regardless  of  proximity  to  the  line  of  march,  wore 


THE  FUNERAL.  129 

the  proper  insignia,  some  of  them  being  elabor- 
ately shrouded.  Scarcely  a  city  block  omitted  to 
give  some  token  of  the  common  sorrow  by  house- 
front  drapery.  There  was  a  practical  suspension 
of  business  throughout  the  city  after  noon. 

As  the  funeral  pageant  moved  down  the  streets 
through  long  rows  that  formed  the  front  rank  of 
thousands  upon  thousands,  there  were  many  in 
the  crowds  who  recalled  and  lived  over  again 
their  emotions  when  the  drum  of  the  Recruiting 
Sergeant  sounded  at  every  cross-roads  and  in 
every  village  street.  Mothers  and  wives  were 
there,  who  thirty  years  ago  bade  good-bye  to  their 
beloved  ones,  half  glad,  half  sorrowful,  and  as  the 
troops  rumbled  down  the  streets  after  the  corpse 
of  one  of  the  foremost  figures  of  that  day  the 
pictures  all  came  back  to  them,  the  good-byes  were 
told  again,  the  tears  were  shed  afresh. 

Out  of  the  dull  tread  of  the  soldiers  there 
came  to  some  of  the  sight-seers  a  vision  of  the 
weary  days  of  waiting,  the  news  of  battle,  the 
anxious  scanning  of  newspapers,  the  awful  haste 
to  the  front  for  remains  or  to  the  hospital  for 

tender  ministrations.     Then  came  remembrances 
9 


130         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

of  crushed  and  bleeding  hearts  and  of  vacant 
chairs  at  the  fireside — such  indeed  are  pictures  of 
the  days  when  Sherman  and  his  armies  fought  their 
way  to  greatness  and  victory. 

From  the  standpoint  of  these  private  citizens 
who  thronged  the  streets  along  the  line  of 
march,  it  was  a  day  never  to  be  forgotten.  For 
two  hours  before  the  great  column  began  to  move 
the  streets  along  which  it  was  to  pass  were  like 
mighty  rivers  toward  which  there  constantly 
flowed  many  tributaries.  The  strong  arm  of  the 
police  did  its  best  to  stem  the  current,  and  every 
inch  of  encroachment  was  contested  stubbornly, 
but  with  only  partial  success,  until,  amid  clatter- 
ing hoofs,  shrill-blowing  trumpets,  and  rattling 
sidearms,  the  advance  guard  rode  slowly  down 
the  streets.  Then  the  crowd  compressed  its 
struggling  members  back  to  the  curb,  and  for  two 
hours  and  a  half  it  witnessed  a  memorable 
pageant. 

It  was  at  Madison  Square  that  the  crowds  as- 
sumed the  greatest  proportions,  and  there,  where 
the  street  was  broad  and  where  many  thousands 
viewed  its  movements,  the  procession  seemed  to 


*  THE  FUNERAL,  131 

assume  a  more  pronounced  air  of  stateliness  than 
had  characterized  its  march  elsewhere.  A  dirge- 
breathino;  band,  cad&ncinor  the  mournful  time  of 

O  N.  O 

the  funeral  march,  wheeled  first  into  view.  The 
sadness  of  its  strains,  the  long  files  of  crape-cov- 
ered colors  which  followed,  the  badges  of  mourn- 
ing on  every  breast  and  on  every  arm,  the 
inverted  muskets,  the  tolling  bells  of  neigh- 
boring churches,  the  furrowed  faces  of  the 
mourners,  each  brought  an  air  of  new  impres- 
siveness  upon  the  scene,  and  told  of  the  Nation's 
loss. 

The  rumble  of  artillery  and  the  pounding  hoofs 
of  the  cavalry  horses — music  of  iron  on  stone — 
were  fitting  preludes  to  the  oncoming  bier  of  the 
dead  warrior.  Stout  horses  straining  under  their 
death-dealing  cannon,  grim  and  red-plumed  ar- 
tillerymen urging  them  on,  flashes  of  angry  crim- 
son mingling  with  the  blue — this  is  what  the 
crowds  saw  passing  to  the  muffled  throb  of  a 
hundred  drums.  Glimpses  of  Drum  Majors 
here  and  there,  stripes  of  red  and  white  once 
free,  now  close  enfolded  by  bands  of  sombre 
crape ;  breasts  on  which  stood  forth  medals  and 


132         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T,  SHERMAN, 

badges  won  on  the  fields  of  battle  years  ago,  all 
whirled  by  in  a  confusion  of  battle  array. 

Then  came  the  pall-bearers.  An  added  sense 
of  melancholy  confronted  the  sight-seer  as  these 
veterans  came  into  view.  The  brave  Schofield ; 
Howard,  who  gave  an  arm  to  the  cause  while 
commanding  Sherman's  right  wing ;  Braine,  whose 
shells  crashed  against  Forts  Fisher  and  Anderson  ; 
Greer,  who  fought  beside  Porter  at  Vicksburg  ; 
Sickles,  Dodge  and  Corse ;  Swayne,  Woodford, 
Wright  and  Moore,  brave  men  and  true — these 
did  the  last  honors  beside  the  bier  of  their  lament- 
ed chieftain.  There  was  another  face  among 
them — that  of  Johnston,  the  same  Joseph  E. 
Johnston  who  threw  himself  and  his  army  before 
Sherman  in  the  march  to  the  sea — the  same 
Johnston  who,  in  April,  1865,  surrendered  to  the 
soldier  whose  corpse  he  was  following  in  sorrow. 

But  now  came  a  hush.  The  dead  Conqueror ! 
High  on  the  funeral  catafalque,  under  a  covering 
black  as  night,  where  the  sun  kissed  only  the 
canopy  that  hid  him,  he  came,  not  leading,  but  led  ; 
no  longer  victorious,  but  himself  surrendered. 
Borne  on  the  crisp  air  came  the  sobbing  and  sigh- 


THE  FUNERAL. 


133 


ing  of  flute  and  drum  that  sang  of  the  Nation's 
sorrow;  yet  they  told  no  story  half  so  sad,  they 
touched  no  heart  half  so  deep,  as  did  the  mass  of 
reverent  blackness  that  bore  him  as  a  cloud. 

There  was  a  little  interval  after  this,  and  then 
came  the  two  rows  of  closed  carriages  containing 
the  family,  the  relatives,  and  the  nearest  friends. 
The  blinds  were  tightly  drawn  to  hide  them  from 
the  curious  eye.  The  hush  of  silent  sympathy 
was  soon  broken  as  the  carriages  of  the  President 
and  Vice-President,  and  those  of  ex-Presidents, 
Cabinet,  Ambassadors,  and  committees  rumbled 
into  view  and,  with  their  coming,  the  spirits  of  the 
throng  seemed  to  rise  and  to  brighten.  Those 
who  had  just  parted  were  the  heroes  of  a  former 
generation;  these  were  the  heroes  of  to-day. 
Thousands  turned  their  eyes  toward  the  favorites 
in  this  group  of  statesmen,  and  for  each  there  was 
a  word  of  praise  or  an  exclamation  that  betokened 
recognition  and  admiration. 

Next  strode  the  comrades  of  his  campaign  and 
battles — the  men  who,  of  all  others,  could  best 
recognize  his  greatness,  and  in  so  doing  feel  his 
loss.  They  came  from  a  hundred  battle-fields. 


134          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

The  colors  that  they  bore  were  only  shreds,  yet 
every  fibre  of  those  tatters  was  wound  about  the 
hearts  of  the  men  who  marched  beneath  them. 

An  unbroken  mile  of  these  veterans  followed, 
each  post  bearing  the  flag  it  carried  through  the 
war.  Then  came  the  cadets  from  West  Point. 
The  sturdy  gray  of  their  coats  and  trousers,  the 
wonderful  precision  of  their  white  belts  and 
straps,  the  spotlessness  of  their  gloves,  and  the 
splendid  line  they  kept  as  they  marched  down  the 
street  is  one  of  the  noticeable  features  of  a  long- 
to-be-remembered  day.  Their  marching  was  far 
better  than  that  of  those  veterans  who  went 
before,  but  then,  their  hearts  are  lighter,  their 
years  less. 

Last  of  all  came  the  National  Guard,  all  in  blue 
and  gold,  with  pieces  at  right  shoulder,  bayonets 
fixed,  and  lines  splendidly  kept.  The  New  York 
man  who  watched  them  from  the  crowd  felt  an 
absorbing  interest  of  a  not  wholly  impersonal  sort 
as  they  marched  by,  for  they  belong  to  his  city  and 
State.  Then  an  aide  galloped  by,  his  scabbard 
swinging  and  his  golden  aiguillette  gleaming  in 
the  last  rays  of  day.  The  crowd  welled  in  behind 


THE  FUNERAL. 


135 


him  like  a  flood.     Sherman's  body  had  gone  out 
and  into  the  west  toward  the  sinking  sun. 

AT     THE     SHERMAN     RESIDENCE  —  BRIEF     FUNERAL 

SERVICES — FORMATION   AND  START  OF 

THE   PAGEANT. 

Hardly  had  the  day  dawned  before  the  people 
in  the  neighborhood  of  West  Seventy-first  Street 
were  astir.  Flags  were  thrown  out  from  hun- 
dreds of  windows  heavily  draped  in  black.  Police 
Captain  Berghold  was  early  on  hand  with  a  force 
of  sixty  men.  Before  9  o'clock  there  was  need 
for  their  services,  for  the  crowd  was  then  big 
enough  to  need  watching. 

In  the  Sherman  house  all  was  quiet.  The  fam- 
ily were  getting  a  little  sleep,  their  rest  having 
been  broken  by  the  late  arrival  from  Europe  of 
Father  "Tom"  Sherman.  The  son  did  not  see 
his  father's  body  until  7  o'clock  yesterday  morn- 
ing. Then,  in  company  with  his  brother,  P.  T. 
Sherman,  and  his  two  sisters,  he  went  into  the 
room  where  the  body  lay.  The  lid  of  the  casket 
was  open  and  the  four  children  of  the  soldier 
stood  by  his  bier  for  several  moments.  After  they 


136          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

had  retired  a  message  was  sent  to  President  Har- 
rison at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  saying  that  the 
coffin  would  be  kept  open  until  noon  in  order 
that  he  might  take  a  farewell  look  at  the  remains. 
The  President  answered,  thanking  them  for  their 
courtesy,  but  saying  that  he  did  not  care  to  see 
the  body,  as  he  preferred  to  remember  the  Gen- 
eral as  in  life.  The  casket  was  kept  open,  how- 
ever, and  many  of  the  Presidential  party  and 
other  distinguished  men  viewed  the  rugged 
face. 

In  the  morning,  just  after  the  General's  chil- 
dren left  the  casket,  two  old  veterans  approached 
a  policeman  at  the  door  and  asked  him  if  they 
could  see  the  body.  One  wore  a  ragged  old  army 
coat.  The  other  wore  over  his  uniform  a  leather 
jacket,  and  on  his  head  was  an  old  coon-skin  hat. 
Both  wore  the  badges  of  the  famous  Sixth  Army 
Corps  and  of  a  Springfield  (Mass.)  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic  Post.  When  they  were  told  that 
they  had  come  too  late,  their  faces  fell,  and  one 
of  them  said: 

"We  came  all  the  way  from  Springfield  to  see 
our  old  commander.  We  marched  with  him  to 


THE  FUNERAL. 


137 


the  sea.  That  was  a  long  time  ago,  and  we  ain't 
seen  him  since." 

The  old  fellows  were  so  sorely  disappointed 
and  they  gazed  so  wistfully  at  the  house  that  the 
heart  of  an  orderly  who  stood  by  was  touched, 
and  he  told  their  story  to  Lieut.  Thackara,  the 
General's  son-in-law.  The  Lieutenant  came  down 
and  personally  invited  them  in.  They  accepted 
with  alacrity.  As  they  stood  beside  the  casket 
the  old  fellow  with  the  coon-skin  hat  said : 

"  I  saw  him  last  near  Atlanta,  under  heavy  fire. 
I  remember  now  how  we  cheered  him  as  he 
rode  by." 

As  the  veterans  came  down  the  stone  steps  the 
two  biggest  policemen  in  New  York — Graham, 
6  feet  7$  inches,  and  Giblin,  6  feet  5$  inches — 
gave  them  a  military  salute.  Such  distinguished 
recognition  staggered  the  old  fellows  for  the 
moment.  Recovering,  however,  they  returned 
the  salute  with  great  dignity,  locked  arms,  and 
marched  off. 

By  10  o'clock  the  crowd  around  the  residence 
had  grown  to  such  proportions  that  Seventy-first 
Street  was  cleared  and  police  lines  were  estab- 


138          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

lished  at  Eighth  and  Columbus  Avenues.  There- 
after nobody  was  allowed  to  pass  through  with- 
out especial  authority.  The  sidewalks  of  all  the 
adjacent  streets  were,  however,  lined  with  people. 
The  busy  "fakir"  appeared  as  usual,  and  was 
everywhere  howling  out  that  he  had  the  "  only 
original  Sherman  memorial  badge." 

Shortly  after  1 1  o'clock  carriages  began  to  ar- 
rive at  the  house  bringing  mourners  and  distin- 
guished guests.  Chauncey  M.  Depew  and 
Grover  Cleveland  were  at  the  house  before  noon. 
Secretary  Elaine  and  Gen.  Ewing  arrived  just 
after  noon. 

The  private  funeral  services  were  held  at  noon. 
There  were  present  in  the  parlor  at  the  time  the 
Rev.  Father  Taylor,  the  Rev.  George  Deshon,  a 
Paulist  Father  ;  the  Rev.  Father  "  Tom  "  Sher- 
man, the  Rev.  Neil  H.  McKennon,  a  Jesuit  priest; 
members  of  the  Sherman,  Ewing  and  Hoyt  fam- 
ilies, and  Secretaries  Rusk  and  Noble.  Father 
Sherman  and  Father  Taylor  officiated,  the  former 
reading  a  brief  service  and  the  latter  saying  the 
regular  prayers  for  the  dead.  The  surpliced  boy 
choir  of  the  Church  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  stood 


THE  FUNERAL.  139 

around  the  casket,  and  after  the  holy  water  had 
been  sprinkled,  rendered  the  anthem,  "  If  Thou, 
O  Lord,  will  Mark  Iniquities."  This  was  followed 
by  Psalm  cxxix.,  "  De  Profundis,"  "  Out  of  the 
Depths  I  have  Cried  to  Thee,  O  Lord,  Lord  Hear 
My  Voice,"  and  the  "  Pater  Noster.  "  The  ser- 
vices lasted  only  fifteen  minutes.  Then  the 
casket  was  finally  sealed.  Senator  John  Sherman 
was  the  last  to  look  upon  the  General's  face. 

Father  Sherman  was  seen  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  service.  He  said :  "  The  service  was  Cath- 
olic. My  father  was  baptized  in  the  Catholic 
Church, -married  in  the  Catholic  Church,  and  at- 
tended the  Catholic  Church  until  the  outbreak  of 
the  civil  war.  Since  that  time  he  has  not  been  a 
communicant  of  any  Church ;  but  he  has  re- 
peatedly told  me  that  if  he  had  any  regular  re- 
ligious ideas  they  were  Catholic.  A  week  ago 
to-day  my  father  received  absolution  and  extreme 
unction  at  the  hands  of  Father  Taylor.  He  was 
unconscious  at  the  time,  but  that  has  no  import- 
ant bearing,  for  the  sacraments  can  properly  be 
administered  to  any  person  whose  mind  can  be 
interpreted  as  desirous  of  receiving  them." 


140          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

By  I  o'clock  the  neighborhood  was  echoing 
with  the  sounds  of  martial  music.  The  various 
divisions  of  the  great  parade  were  beginning  to 
arrive  at  the  points  assigned  to  them  in  the  plan 
of  formation.  Shortly  after  i  o'clock  Inspector 
Steers  rode  through  Seventy-first  Street  at  the 
head  of  fifty  mounted  policemen,  who  were  to 
head  the  procession.  Following  them  came  the 
regular  military  escort,  consisting  of  a  regiment 
of  United  States  marines,  four  companies  of 
United  State  engineers,  six  companies  of  artillery, 
three  battalions  of  light  artillery,  a  troop  of 
United  States  cavalry,  and  Lafayette  Post.  This 
division  lined  up  along  the  south  side  of  Seventy- 
first  Street,  facing  the  residence. 

Members  of  the  Presidential  party,  Senators, 
Congressmen,  Governors  and  their  staffs,  army 
and  navy  officers,  and  other  distinguished  people 
who  were  to  ride  in  carriages  were  arriving  at  this 
time  in  a  steady  stream.  They  entered  the  house 
and  remained  there  until  directed  to  enter  their 
carriages.  President  Harrison,  with  Gen.  Hor- 
ace Porter  and  Elijah  Halford,  drove  up  at  1.50 
o'clock  in  an  open  carriage.  The  President  wore 


THE  FUNERAL.  141 

a  coat  with  sealskin  trimmings  and  was  snuggled 
down  behind  a  bearskin  robe. 

The  street  presented  a  most  brilliant  appear- 
ance before  2  o'clock.  The  Sherman  residence 
had  become  overcrowded,  and  the  army  and  navy 
officers,  in  rich  gold  and  dark  blue  uniforms,  with 
heavily-braided  overcoats,  had  grouped  them- 
selves about  on  the  stone  steps.  Residents  along 
the  street  had  of  course  invited  all  their  friends  to 
come  to  their  houses  for  the  day,  and  consequently 
every  window  and  doorway  was  crowed  with  men 
and  women. 

Just  before  2  o'clock  the  caisson  rumbled  into 
sight  from  Columbus  Avenue.  It  was  drawn  by 
five  coal-black  horses  in  sombre  trappings.  There 
were  three  horses  abreast  in  the  leading  traces 
and  two  spirited  animals  were  behind  them.  Two 
of  the  horses  were  ridden  by  artillerymen  in  blue 
uniforms,  with  black  helmets  and  red  plumes.  The 
caisson  was  draped  in  black.  Behind  the  caisson 
there  came  a  soldier  leading  a  pure  black,  high- 
spirited  steed  covered  with  a  long,  black  velvet 
housing  reaching  half-way  to  the  ground.  On 
the  horse's  back  were  Gen.  Sherman's  old  saddle 


142          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

and  his  riding  boots,  the  boots  being  reversed. 
Presently  the  heavy  doors  of  the  residence  were 
opened,  the  honorary  pall-bearers  came  out,  and, 
descending  the  steps,  ranged  themselves  in  two 
lines  to  permit  the  coffin  to  be  carried  between 
them. 

Half-way  down  the  block  toward  Central  Park 
there  sounded  the  quick  notes  of  the  bugle. 
"  Attention  !"  was  its  warning.  Scarcely  had  the 
notes  died  away  when  Gen.  Butterfield,  the  senior 
marshal,  and  his  staff,  in  their  brilliant  uniforms, 
cantered  along  to  take  their  places  at  the  head  of 
the  column,  following  the  escort  of  police.  Gen. 
Butterfield's  aides  were  :  Mr.  Loyall  Farragut ; 
Capt.  H.  P.  Kingsbury,  Sixth  Cavalry  ;  Capt.  A. 
M.  Wetherill,  Sixth  Infantry;  First  Lieut.  R.  H. 
Patterson,  First  Artillery;  First  Lieut.  L.  A. 
Craig,  Sixth  Cavalry ;  First  Lieut.  Guy  Howard, 
First  Lieut.  Harry  C.  Benson,  Fourth  Cavalry ; 
First  Lieut.  David  Price,  First  Artillery ;  First 
Lieut.  Charles  G. Treat,  Fifth  Artillery;  First  Lieut. 
W.W.  Forsyth,  Sixth  Cavalry;  Second  Lieut.  Sam- 
uel Rodman,  Jr.,  First  Artillery;  Additional  Second 
Lieut.  Colden  L.  H.  Ruggles,  First  Artillery. 


THE  FUNERAL.  143 

The  doors  of  the  residence  were  again  opened, 
and  the  pall-bearers  and  those  around  them  rev- 
erently uncovered  their  heads  as  there  appeared 
in  view  the  coffin  of  the  dead  General.  The 
bright  sun  shone  warmly  on  the  rich  colors  of  the 
starry  silken  flag  in  which  it  was  wrapped.  Bright 
were  its  crimson  bars  and  deeply  azure  was  the 
field  of  blue.  Around  the  flag  was  a  long  fringe 
of  yellow  silk.  Tenderly  the  soldiers  bore  their 
precious  burden  down  the  winding  flight  of  steps. 
Women  standing  at  the  windows  of  the  houses  on 
both  sides  of  the  street,  who  but  a  moment  before 
had  watched  for  the  coffin  with  expectant  eyes, 
drew  back  in  tears  when  it  came  into  sight. 

As  the  casket  bearers  approached  the  shrouded 
caisson  there  was  -heard  the  music  of  the  dir^e, 

O      ' 

"Adeste  Fideles."  Faint  at  first  and  borne  sadly 
on  the  wind,  the  notes  of  the  dirge  grew  louder 
and  clearer.  The  soldiers  placed  the  coffin  on 
the  caisson,  and  the  members  of  Lafayette  Post, 
No.  140,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  composing 
the  special  guard  of  honor  and  dressed  in  post 
uniform,  without  overcoats,  moved  up  and  formed 
a  hollow  square  around  the  caisson. 


144         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

The  honorary  pall-bearers,  in  carnages,  took 
their  places  ahead  of  the  caisson.  They  were  as 
follows:  Major-General  J.  M.  Schofield,  Major- 
General  O.  O.  Howard,  Major-General  Henry  W. 
Slocum,  Rear  Admiral  D.  L.  Braine,  Rear  Ad- 
miral J.  A.  Green,  Prof.  H.  L.  Kendrick,  General 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  Major-General  D.  E.  Sickles, 
Major-General  G.  M.  Dodge,  Major-General  J. 
M.  Corse,  Major-General  Wager  Swayne,  Major- 
General  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  Major-General 
Horatio  G.  King,  Brig.-General  John  Moore, 
United  States  Army. 

The  column  moved  at  2.30  o'clock.  After  the 
caisson  came  the  carriages.  In  the  first  were 
father  T.  E.  Sherman,  P.  T.  Sherman,  and  the 
Misses  Rachel  and  Elizabeth  Sherman.  In  the 
second  carriage  were  United  States  Senator  John 
Sherman  and  Mrs.  Sherman  and  Major  Hoyt 
Sherman  and  Mrs.  Sherman.  In  the  third  car- 
riage were  General  Thomas  Ewing's  family,  and 
in  the  other  carriages  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Colgate 
Hoyt,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  W.  Fitch,  the  Rev, 
Fathers  Deshon  and  Taylor,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  M. 
Thackara,  Mrs.  Henry  Sherman,  Mrs.  Frank  Wil- 


THE  FUNERAL.  145 

borg,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alfred  Hoyt,  General  N.  A. 
Miles  and  wife,  Charles  Sherman,  Mrs.  Henry 
Hoyt,  Senator  and  Mrs.  J.  Donald  Cameron,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  H.  R.  Probasco,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  William 
K.  Otis,  A.  W.  Hoyt,  Arthur  Sherman,  Charles 
Ewing,  Jr.,  Miss  Elizabeth  Thackara,  Miss  Vir- 
ginia Ewing,  Benjamin  Thackara,  J.  M.  Barrett, 
Secretary  of  State  James  G.  Elaine  and  wife  and 
EmmonsBlaine.and  Mrs.  Walter  Damrosch,  Miss 
Eliza  Scott,  William  Scott,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bolton 
Hall,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Scott,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bowie  Dash,  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  William  Brown, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  E.  Steele,  Judge  and  Mrs. 
Granger,  Mrs.  and  Mrs.  J.  F.  Elliott,  James  Scott, 
Mrs.  General  Grant,  Col.  John  M.  Bacon,  Col.  L. 
M.  Dayton,  Mrs.  Quirk,  Dr.  C.  T.  Alexander, 
United  States  Army ;  Private  Secretary  Barrett, 
Col.  Reese,  Miss  Alexander,  William  McCoomb, 
Miss  L.  Alexander,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  Walker, 
Mrs.  John  Lynch,  Mrs.  Emeline  Kane,  James  W. 
Collier,  Miss  Morgan,  Mrs.  Kilpatrick,  Dr. 
Robert  H.  Green  and  Mrs.  Green. 

Then  came  the  Distinguished  visitors   in  open 
carriages.     In   the  first  carriage  were  President 
10 


146          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

Harrison  and  Private  Secretary  E.  J.  Halford.  In 
the  next  carriage  was  Vice-President  Levi  P. 
Morton,  and  in  other  carriages  were  General  M. 
D.  Leggett,  Secretary  of  War  Redfield  Proctor, 
Attorney-General  W.  H.  H.  Miller,  Postmaster- 
General  John  Wanamaker,  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior John  W.  Noble,  Secretary  of  Agriculture, 
Jer.  M.  Rusk,  Secretary  of  the  Navy  Benjamin 
F.  Tracy,  Colonel  Ernest  and  General  A.  B.  Net- 
tleton.  Ex-President  R.  B.  Hayes  and  Joseph  H. 
Choate  rode  together,  and  behind  them  was  a 
carriage  containing  Ex-President  Grover  Cleve- 
land and  Chauncey  M.  Depew.  After  them  came 
United  States  Senators  William  M.  Evarts,  of 
New  York ;  Joseph  R.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut ; 
Charles  F.  Manderson  of  Nebraska  ;  and  Fran- 
cis M.  Cockrell,  of  Missouri.  In  other  carnages 
were  the  members  of  the  committee  appointed  by 
the  National  House  of  Representatives  to  attend 
the  funeral,  as  follows :  General  B.  M.  Cutcheon ; 
of  Michigan ;  General  Charles  H.  Grosvenor,  of 
Ohio ;  General  William  Cogswell,  of  Massachu- 
setts ;  General  Thomas  J.  Henderson,  of  Illinois ; 
J.  H.  Outhwaite,  of  Ohio ;  E.  J.  Dunphy,  of  New 


THE  FUNERAL.  147 

York,  in  place  of  General  Francis  B.  Spinola  and 
John  C.  Tarsney,  of  Missouri. 

Governor  Hill  of  New  York  was  not  able 
to  attend  the  funeral  on  account  of  sickness 
and  his  place  was  taken  by  Lieutenant-Governor 
E.  FJones. 

Among  others  in  carriages  were  Mayor  Hugh  J. 
Grant,  Captain  Schofield,  of  the  Second  Cavalry ; 
Governor  Pattison,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  staff; 
Governor  Morgan  G.  Bulkeley,  of  Connecticut, 
and  staff;  Lieutenants  Bliss  and  Andrews  of  the 
artillery,  and  General  Warren,  who  commanded 
the  old  Sixth  Corps ;  the  Rev.  Mounsell  Van 
Rensselaer,  Richard  Butler,  J.  W.  Pinchot,  the 
Rev.  Alexander  Mackay-Smith,  Logan  C.  Murray, 
A.  M.  Palmer,  Augustin  Daly,  W.  W.  Cooper, 
Stephen  B.  Elkins,  Benjamin  Field,  Archbishop 
Corrigan,  Hamilton  Fish,  D.  O.  Mills,  Ex-Mayor 
Hewitt,  Ex-Mayor  Edward  Cooper,  Cyrus  W. 
Field,  David  Dudley  Field,  Archbishop  Ryan,  of 
'hiladelphia  ;  Dr.  Metcalf,  General  Z.  B.  Tower, 
Hiram  Hitchcock,  Quartermaster-General  Batch- 
elder,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War  Lewis  A. 
Grant,  George  W.  Childs  and  Anthony  J. 


148          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T,  SHERMAN. 

Drexel,  of  Philadelphia,  and  General  C.  H.  T. 
Collis. 

The  Legislature  of  the  State  was  represented 
by  Senators  Saxton,  Jacobs,  Vedder,  Robertson, 
Brown,  Sloan,  Erwin,  Stadler,  and  Assemblymen 
F.  O.  Chamberlain,  Addison  S.  Thompson,  Levi 
E.  Worden,  R.  P.  Bush,  George  P.  Webster,  Jacob 
Rice  and  I.  Sam  Johnson. 

As  the  head  of  the  column,  the  military  guard, 
caisson  and  carriages  passed  out  into  Eighth 
Avenue,  the  Loyal  Legion,  which  had  formed  at 
Eighth  Avenue  and  Seventy-first  street,  fell  in. 
The  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  posts,  which 
had  formed  on  the  cross  streets  west  of  Eighth 
Avenue,  from  Sixty-first  street  up,  took  their 
places  in  turn,  and  the  corps  of  cadets  from  West 
Point,  which  had  formed  at  Sixty-first  Street  and 
Eighth  Avenue,  fell  in- behind  the  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic  division.  This  opened  the  line  to 
the  division  of  the  National  Guard  of  the  State, 
which  had  formed  with  its  head  resting  at  Six- 
tieth Street  and  Eighth  Avenue,  and  after  that 
division  had  joined  the  column  the  miscellan- 
eous organizations,  which  had  formed  along 


THE  FUXERAL.  149 

Sixtieth  Street  and  up  t^ie  Boulevard,  took  their 
positions. 

ALONG  THE   LINE    OF  MARCH — THE    STORY  OP  THE 
PROCESSION    TOLD    BY  A   PARTICIPANT. 

If  was  precisely  2.  02  o'clock  when  the  call  of 
"  Attention  !  "  sounded  by  the  bugler  of  the  Grand 
Marshal,  gave  warning  to  the  escort  that  the  time 
had  arrived  for  the  column  to  move.  As  the  cas- 
ket was  brought  down  the  steps  of  the  house, 
borne  on  the  shoulders  of  six  regular  army  ser- 
geants, who  had  been  detailed  to  accompany  the 
body  of  General  Sherman  to  St.  Louis,  the  sev- 
eral bands  of  the  United  States  Artillery  force 
and  of  the  Marine  Corps  battalions  successively 
took  up  the  customary  dirge  from  left  to  right, 
the  band  of  the  leading  organization  completing 
mis  part  of  the  ceremony  with  a  solemn  rendition 
of  the  "Adeste  Fideles."  Simultaneously  with 
the  opening  of  the  familiar  hymn  every  head  was 
uncovered  and  the  multitude  of  sight-seers,  mem- 
bers of  the  posts  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  and  others  remained  for  some  time  in 
eager  expectancy. 


150          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

Several  minutes  later  General  Daniel  Butter- 
field  and  the  members  of  the  staff  of  the  Grand 
Marshal  clattered  through  Seventy-first  Street 
and  forced  their  way  down  Eighth  Avenue  to  take 
their  appointed  place  at  the  head  of  the  column. 
Then  came  another  delay  while  the  family  and 
mourners  were  getting  into  their  respective  car- 
riages and  the  carriages  into  line.  The  foot 
troops  of  the  escort  blocked  the  way,  but  finally 
it  was  ordered  that  the  infantry  should  take  posi- 
tion in  column  of  fours  between  the  sections  of 
artillery,  and  by  this  order  the  way  was  cleared 
for  putting  the  procession  in  motion.  It  was 
precisely  2.30  o'clock  when  the  march  began. 

Eighth  Avenue  from  Seventy-first  to  Sixty-first 
Street  was  lined  on  either  hand  by  the  posts  of 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  Flanking  and 
supporting  these  battle-scarred  veterans  was  such 
a  multitude  of  on-lookers  as  New  York  has  not 
seen  since  the  Washington  Centennial  parade  of 
1889,  and  which  was  not  surpassed,  even  if  it 
were  equaled,  by  the  outpouring  attending  the 
obsequies  of  General  Grant.  Central  Park  was 
occupied  as  it  had  never  been  occupied  before. 


THE  FUNERAL. 


151 


Every  point  of  vantage  had  been  pre-empted  by 
sight-seers  hours  before  the  time  appointed  for 
the  procession  to  start. 

Throughout  this  portion  of  the  route  the  scene 
was  peculiarly  impressive.  By  direction  no  music 
was  played  by  the  bands  of  the  escort,  but,  as 
each  of  the  Grand  Array  corps  came  into  view  of 
the  caisson  conveying  the  remains,  colors  were 
dipped,  heads  were  uncovered,  rolls  were  beaten 
on  muffled  drums,  or  dirges  were  sounded  by  the 
bands  of  the  various  organizations. 

Wheeling  into  Fifty-seventh  Street  from  Broad- 
way the  column  encountered  an  obstacle  which 
materially  retarded  its  progress.  The  greater 
portion  of  the  street  being  taken  up  with  building 
material,  it  became  necessary  for  the  cavalry  and 
artillery  to  deploy  from  column  of  platoons  into 
column  of  sections,  and  for  the  infantry  organiza- 
tions to  change  their  formation  from  column  of 
companies  to  column  of  fours,  thus  extending  the 
escort  to  quite  double  its  original  length  and  com- 
pelling a  halt  of  the  head  of  the  procession  until 
the  line  could  be  reformed. 

The  parade  strength  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 


152          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

Republic  was  measurably  a  disappointment,  and 
it  was  not  until  the  funeral  escort  proper  had  un- 
covered Sixty-first  Street  that  the  impressiveness 
of  the  pageant  began  to  make  itself  manifest.  At 
this  point  the  Old  Guard,  covered  almost  com- 
pletely from  view  by  a  Grand  Army  post,  its  bear- 
skin shakos  being  alone  visible  from  the  interior 
of  the  procession,  marked  the  left  of  the  line  of 
military  mourners.  Drawn  up  on  the  west  side 
of  the  avenue,  covering  the  intervening  blocks 
from  Fifty-ninth  to  Sixty-first  Street,  and  standing 
rigid  at  present  arms,  was  the  battalion  of  cadets 
from  the  United  States  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point.  Here  was  a  superb  body  of  soldiery,  every 
youngster  in  the  corps  trained  to  the  extreme  of 
perfection. 

Then  came  the  Seventh  Regiment,  a  long  line 
of  blue  and  white,  covering  all  of  Fifty-seventh 
Street  from  Eighth  to  Sixth  Avenue  and  beyond. 

In  the  course  of  the  passage  of  the  funeral 
cortege  along  the  front  of  the  military  organiza- 
tions, appropriate  selections  were  played  by  the 
bands  of  the  several  organizations.  Thus  the 
musicians  of  the  West  Point  cadets  played  an  ap- 


THE  FUNERAL.  153 

propriate  dirge  with  exquisite  taste  and  expres- 
sion ;  Leypoldt's  Twelfth  Regiment  Band  played 
a  selection  of  similar  character  equally  well,  while 
Cappa,  of  the  Seventh  Regiment,  greeted  the 
cortege  with  the  opening  strain  of  "The  Gen- 
eral's March,"  as  presented  in  Tactics.  Conterno, 
the  younger,  who  had  charge  of  the  Ninth  Regi- 
ment Band,  Conterno  ptre  parading  with  the 
Marine  Corps  at  the  head  of  the  Navy  Yard 
Band,  performed  a  dirge  of  his  own  arrange- 
ment, while  Eben,  of  the  Seventy-first,  gave 
an  exquisite  rendering  of  Chopin's  "Funeral 
March." 

But  it  was  left  to  the  Gilmore  to  create  the  mus- 
ical sensation  of  the  day  by  his  elevation  of  the 
hackneyed  air,  which  has  been  sung  and  played 
from  end  to  end  of  the  land,  in  celebration  of  the 
memorable  march  to  the  sea,  and  with  which  the 
name  and  fame  of  Gen.  Sherman  are  irreparably 
connected.  Gilmore  transmitted  the  song  of  all 
popular  songs  into  a  dirge  of  the  most  impressive 
description  by  the  simple  expedient  of  changing 
the  tempo.  None  but  a  Gilmore  would  have  had 
the  audacity  to  esSay  an  undertaking  of  this 


154          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

kind.  It  is  stated  that  Gilmore  mentioned  his 
purpose  to  the  members  of  General  Sherman's 
family  previous  to  the  parade,  and  that  they  were 
delighted  with  the  suggestion.  It  was  fitting  that 
the  succession  of  dirges  should  be  concluded  at 
the  right  of  the  line  by  the  Sixty-ninth  Regiment, 
which,  under  the  leadership  of  Bandmaster 
Bayne,  gave  out  the  always  welcome  "  Auld  Lang 
Syne,"  with  such  tender  expressiveness  as  to  draw 
tears  from  many  eyes. 

Fifth  Avenue,  viewed  from  the  place  of  its 
junction  with  Fifty-seventh  Street,  presented  an 
unbroken  and  seemingly  impenetrable  mass  of 
people.  Twice  before  at  this  point  of  recent 
years — at  the  Grant  obsequies  and  again  on  the 
occasion  of  the  centennial  parade — the  crush  at 
this  point  had  been  phenomenal.  But  yester- 
day's demonstration  far  surpassed  the  demonstra- 
tion upon  either  of  those  memorable  occasions. 
Sidewalks,  stoops,  fences,  balconies,  windows, 
and  even  the  housetops  were  covered  with 
people.  As  a  thoroughfare  for  pedestrians  the 
avenue  was  hermetically  closed,  the  only  unin- 
cumbered  space  being  the  roadway,  kept  clear  by 


THE  FUNERAL.  165 

the  admirable  police  arrangements  for  the  passage 
of  the  procession. 

For  blocks  on  either  side  of  the  main  route  of 
the  procession  groups  were  stationed  on  roofs  and 
in  windows  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  passing 
cortege  with  the  aid  of  opera-glasses.  The  driv- 
ers and  proprietors  of  vans,  stages  and  wagons 
did  a  profitable  business  at  every  cross-street,  and 
when  the  vehicles  could  contain  no  more  persons 
they  rented  out  seats  on  the  backs  of  the  poor 
beasts  attached  to  them.  Even  the  church 
steeples  were  utilized  to  the  fullest  extent,  and 
from  the  eyries  of  the  lofty  spires  of  St.  Patrick's 
Cathedral  eager  faces  looked  down  on  the  proces- 
sion. 

Only  at  the  clubs  and  on  the  balconies  of  pri- 
vate residences  was  there  a  general  uncovering 
as  the  caisson  and  its  flag-draped  casket  came  in 
view.  Along  the  sidewalks  it  was  only  occasion- 
ally that  a  hat  was  raised,  and  it  is  worthy  of  note 
that  from  start  to  close  of  the  parade  but  a  single 
police  officer  offered  this  tribute  of  respect — a 
Sergeant  in  the  vicinity  of  Thirtieth  Street. 

A  touching  incident   occurred   at   the   orphan 


156         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

asylum,  adjoining  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral, 
at  Fiftieth  Street.  The  grounds  were  crowded 
with  spectators,  in  the  centre  of  whom,  occupying 
a  commanding  position,  the  cadets  of  the  institu- 
tion, in  full  uniform,  the  oldest  not  above  twelve 
years  seemingly  were  drawn  up  at  present  arms. 

At  the  Union  League,  the  Century,  and  the 
Knickerbocker  Clubs,  the  quarters  of  the  Seventh 
Regiment  Veterans,  the  Vanderbilt,  Whitney, 
Goelet,  Wilson,  and  Vanderpoel  residence,  the 
Buckingham  and  Langham  Hotels,  the  Ohio 
Society's  quarters,  the  Victoria  and  Brunswick 
Hotels,  the  Brevoort  House  and  the  Berkeley, 
and  the  residences  of  Gen.  Sickles  and  Gen.  But- 
terfield  the  display  of  mourning  emblems  was 
especially  notable. 

The  most  striking  display,  however,  was  un- 
questionably that  presented  by  the  Fifth  Avenne 
Hotel.  A  heavy  fringe  of  spectators  on  the 
roof  brought  the  building  into  striking  promi- 
nence. Every  window  was  occupied  and  the 
building  was  elaborately  decorated.  The  artistic 
draping  of  the  Hoffman  House  adjoining  was  also 
notable. 


THE  FUNERAL,  157 

In  Madison  Square  a  party  of  veterans  had 
taken  post  on  almost  the  identical  spot  where, 
a  little  less  than  two  years  ago,  Gen.  Sherman 
witnessed  the  review  of  the  centennial  parade  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Manhattan  Club  was  given  over  almost 
exclusively  to  the  use  of  ladies,  and  a  very  pretty 
display  of  feminine  loveliness  was  made  at  the  New 
York  Exchange  for  Women's  Work.  This  pleas- 
ing feature  was  duplicated  at  the  Church  of  the 
Ascension,  where  a  platform  had  been  erected 
which  was  occupied  by  several  scores  of  women, 
while  from  each  of  the  four  corners  of  the  tower 
of  the  church  floated  a  crape-draped  national 
color. 

It  was  something  more  than  a  coincidence 
that  the  procession  should  have  passed  over 
in  reverse  order  almost  identically  the  same 
route  covered  by  the  great  jubilee  parade  of 
April  30,  1889,  of  which  Gen.  Sherman  was 
one  of  the  conspicuous  figures.  There  was 
much  below  Twenty-third  Street  to  recall  that 
event.  As  then,  the  residences  of  ex-Mayor 
Cooper,  of  Rhinelander  Stewart,  of  Miss  Rhine- 


158         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

lander,  and  of  Charles  A.  Post  gave  outward 
evidence  that  the  hearts  of  their  occupants  beat  in 
sympathy  with  the  public  pulse,  but  the  gay  dec- 
orations of  the  centennial  year  had  given  place  to 
the  sombre  emblems  of  grief  and  mourning. 

Going  down  Broadway  from  Washington  Place 
to  Canal  Street  the  pace  was  quickened  and  the 
column  moved  without  music.  The  escort 
wheeled  into  line  on  the  north  side  of  Canal 
Street,  and,  as  the  funeral  party  passed  along  the 
front  of  the  troops  and  the  caisson  and  its  pre- 
cious burden  disappeared  from  view  on  board  the 
ferry-boat,  the  Marine  Band  played  the  refrain  of 
the  old  hymn  : 

"  Here  bring  your  bleeding  hearts, 

Here  tell  your  anguish  ; 
Earth  has  no  sorrow 
That  Heaven  cannot  heal." 

ARRIVAL    AT  THE    FERRY — THE    REMAINS    SALUTED 
BY  THE  CALIFORNIA  PIONEERS 

Many  thousands  stood  along  Watts  Street  and 
on  the  east  side  and  on  the  Pennsylvania  ferry- 
house  side  of  West  Street.  They  waited  pa- 
tiently, though  the  inquiry  "  Are  they  coming 


THE  FUNERAL.  159 


yet?"  was  frequently  made.  The  breeze  from 
the  river  was  cold,  and  though  the  people  on  the 
street  complained  a  little,  they  said  that  they  were 
better  off  than  the  groups  who  stood  on  the  roofs 
of  the  houses  on  the  east  side  of  West  Street. 
Policemen  were  numerous.  Tall  Capt.  Max 
Schmittberger  had  out  the  whole  steamboat 
squad.  It  was  the  first  time  that,  as  a  Captain, 
he  had  appeared  on  such  an  occasion,  but  he  was 
quite  at  home. 

Gen.  Nugent,  an  old  comrade  of  Gen.  Sherman 
in  the  regular  army,  now  retired,  was  present  to 
take  command  of  veterans  other  than  those  of  the 
Grand  Army  who  were  expected  to  appear  at  the 
Desbrosses  Street  Ferry  to  salute  the  casket  as  it 
passed  into  the  ferry-house.  Gen.  Nugent  waited 
at  the  United  States  Building,  534  Canal  Street, 
for  a  time.  Nobody  came,  so  he  went  over  to 
the  ferry  and  joined  Capt.  Francis  D.  Clark,  Pres- 
ident of  the  Associated  Pioneers  of  the  Territorial 
Days  of  California,  who  was  with  Gen.  Sherman 
in  California  in  1846. 

With  Capt.  Clark  were  these  pioneers  :  W.  M. 
Neely,  Daniel  W.  Clegg,  R.  J.  Paulison,  Alex- 


160          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T,  SHERMAN. 

ander  Ludlow,  Joseph  M.  Pray,  Russell  Myers, 
A.  T.  Goodell,  George  C.  Royce,  William  Colli- 
gan,  James  E.  Nutman,  William  Roberts,  J.  F. 
Wiley,  William  M.  Walton  and  William  B.  Kin- 
ney.  They  lined  up  on  the  string-piece  on  the 
north  side  of  the  plank  drive-way  leading  to  the 
ferry-house  entrance. 

The  mounted  police  turned  from  Watts  Street 
into  West  at  five  o'clock.  They  formed  on  both 
sides  of  West  Street.  The  procession  had  les- 
sened materially  when  the  ferry  was  reached. 
The  gates  were  thrown  open  a-nd  Gen.  Butter- 
field  and  his  staff  rode  aboard  the  ferry-boat  "  Balti- 
more." They  were  followed  immediately  by  the 
caisson  and  Lafayette  Post.  The  members  of  the 
post  went  inside  the  ferry-house  and  then  retired. 

The  carriages  containing  those  who  were  to 
board  the  special  train  on  the  Jersey  side  went 
down  the  gangway.  Capt.  Schmittberger  and 
forty  policemen  followed,  and  without  any  delay 
the  ferry-boat  passed  out  of  the  slip  and  steamed 
down  the  river  to  the  Jersey  City  station. 


THE  FUNERAL.  161 


LEAVING  JERSEY  CITY — THE  CASKET    IN  THE    FIRST 
CAR   OF   A   HEAVILY-DRAPED   TRAIN. 

For  several  hours  before  the  time  appointed  for 
the  arrival  of  the  special  ferry-boat  "  Baltimore  " 
from  Desbrossesstreetatthe  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
station  slips  in  Jersey  City,  that  place  was  a  scene 
of  bustle  and  preparation.  The  Fourth  Regi- 
ment of  New  Jersey  militia,  under  command  of 
Lieut-Col.  Abernethy  and  numbering  about  200 
men,  was  drawn  up  opposite  the  northerly  slip, 
into  which  the  boat  was  to  come.  A  long  double 
line  of  guards  extended  from  that  point  through 
the  ferry-house  southward  to  Track  1 1,  upon 
which  the  funeral  train  was  to  be  made  up.  Sand- 
wiched in  among  these  guards  were  about  140 
Jersey  City  policemen,  who  did  little  during  the 
afternoon  but  interfere  with  arrangements  that 
would  otherwise  have  been  excellent. 

Promptly  at  the  hour  which  had  been  settled 
ipon  for  the  arrival  of  the  boat  she  appeared  in 

le  slip,  and  the  order  was  given  to  present  arms. 

"he  party  proceeded  to  Track  n,the  caisson  be- 
ing driven  to  the  head  of  the  train  opposite   the 
11 


162          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

composite  car,  No.  671,  in  which  the  casket  was 
to  be  placed.  All  but  those  who  were  going 
West  returned  to  the  city. 

The  train  which  was  to  take  the  funeral  party 
to  St.  Louis  was  composed  of  palace  cars,  all  of 
them  heavily  draped  in  black.  It  was  designated 
as  Section  No.  2  of  the  Western  express,  leaving 
at  6.45.  The  conductor  of  the  train  was  George 
K.  Deane,  who  was  conductor  of  the  Garfield 
funeral  train,  and  the  remainder  of  the  train's 
crew  was  made  up  of  Engineer  George  Roe,  of 
Engine  1,328  and  Brakemen  T.  C.  Moore  and  L. 
S.  Paxson. 

The  flag-covered  casket  was  transferred  to  the 
first  car  in  the  train,  where  guard  over  it  was  at 
once  mounted  by  Sergts.  Foley,  Sohl,  Nasahl, 
Reardon,  Hogan  and  McCarthy,  under  command 
of  Major  W.  F.  Randolph,  Inspector  of  Artillery 
at  Governor's  Island,  who  relieved  Lieut.  Rod- 
man, who  had  up  to  that  time  been  in  charge  of 
the  guard  over  the  General's  body. 

The  next  car  was  the  Liverpool,  occupied  by 
Gov.  Pattison,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  his  Cabinet. 
Then  came  the  Danville.  In  this  were  Secretary 


THE  FUNERAL.  ^  163 

and  Mrs.  Noble,  General].  M.  Schofield,  General 
H.  W.  Slocum,  General  O.  O.  Howard,  Secretary 
Rusk,  Assistant  Secretary  Grant,  Major  Ran- 
dolph, Lieut.  Guy  Howard,  Lieut.  Andrews,  Capt. 
Barnett,  and  Capt.  H.  P.  Kingsbury.  The  dining 
car  was  next  to  the  Danville,  and  then  came  the 
Abyo,  in  which  were  ex-President  Hayes,  General 
Thomas  Ewing,  Miss  Virginia  Ewing,  Senator 
John  Sherman,  Alfred  Hoyt,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles 
Ewing,  General  and  Mrs.  N.  A.  Miles,  George 
B.  Ewing,  Mrs.  Frank  Witorg,  Henry  Sherman, 
Mrs.  Colgate  Hoyt,  Charles  Sherman  and  Hoyt 
Sherman.  In  the  Cadi  were  Judge  and  Mrs. 
Granger,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  E.  Steele,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  H.  R.  Probasco,  Col.  L.  M.  Dayton,  Col. 
John  M.  Bacon,  General  and  Mrs.  Hugh  Ewing, 
William  McCoomb,  Col.  Reese,  Private  Secretary 
Barrett,  and  Dr.  C.  T.  Alexander. 

Parlor  car  No.  1 20,  President  Roberts'  private 
car,  followed,  and  in  it  were  the  immediate  mem- 
bers of  General  Sherman's  family,  not  already 
mentioned,  including  Father  Sherman,  P.  T.  Sher- 
man, Miss  Rachel  E.  Sherman,  and  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Sherman.  The  President's  car  came  next. 


164         LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

It  was  Pennsylvania  Railroad  parlor  car  No.  180, 
and  besides  President  Harrison  were  Vice-Presi- 
dent  Morton,  Secretaries  Proctor  and  Tracy, 
Postmaster-General  Wanamaker,  and  Assistant 
Secretary  A.  B.  Nettleton.  This  car  was  to  be 
switched  from  the  train  at  Mantua  Junction,  near 
Philadelphia,  and  sent  to  Washington  direct, 
with  another  section  of  the  train,  which  was  to  be 
filled  with  Senators  and  Congressmen  who  had 
attended  the  funeral  . 

Everybody  had  found  his  place  on  the  train  by 
the  time  it  had  been  ordered  to  start  and  promptly 
at  6.45  it  moved  out  of  the  station. 

ON   ITS  WAY  TO   THE  WEST. 

When  the  funeral  train  left  Harrisburg  at  1 1 
o'clock  that  night,  a  cold  rain  was  falling.  This 
continued  all  night  and  when  the  train  arrived  in 
Pittsburgh  it  was  still  raining.  The  run  during 
the  night  was  devoid  of  incident.  Altoona  was 
reached  at  4.05.  The  Rev.  S.  P.  Kelley,  of  Pitts- 
burgh, representing  the  local  committee  at  that 
place,  boarded  the  train  here.  The  next  stop 
was  for  water — at  New  Florence — at  5.30. 


THE  FUNERAL.  165 

At  Edgewood  the  train  stopped  long  enough 
for  three  of  Lieut.  Fitch's  children  to  get  on.  A 
Grand  Army  post  of  veterans  was  drawn  up  in 
line  on  the  platform — standing  with  bared  heads 
in  the  pouring  rain  until  the  train  moved  away. 
At  Wilkinsburg,  the  next  station,  a  similar  scene 
was  witnessed  as  the  train  rushed  by. 

The  train  ran  into  an  open  switch  at  Mansfield 
at  6.37.  It  was  running  at  a  slow  rate  at  the 
time,  which  was  the  only  thing  which  prevented  a 
collision.  Only  five  minutes'  delay  was  caused. 
The  trouble  was  due  to  one  Thomas  Irwin  losing 
his  presence  of  mind.  There  was  a  great  crowd 
at  the  station,  and  Irwin  was  standing  on  the 
track  when  the  train  pulled  in.  Some  one 
yelled  to  him  to  get  out  of  the  way.  He  became 
excited  and  threw  the  switch. 

Thousands  of  people  had  assembled  near  the 
Union  Station  in  Pittsburgh  when  the  train  arrived, 
at  7.47  o'clock.  As  the  train  drew  slowly  into 
the  station  the  great  crowd  uncovered  heads,  and 
the  Eighteenth  Regiment  band  struck  up  a  low 
dirge.  The  veterans  laid  their  tattered  army 
flags  beside  the  casket,  with  a  floral  emblem  from 


166          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

the  Union  Veteran  Legion.  A  heavily-draped 
engine  drew  up  to  take  the  place  of  the  locomo- 
tive which  had  ended  its  run.  The  Eighteenth 
Regiment  buglers  played  a  soldier's  requiem, 
"  Rest,"  and  the  train  resumed  its  sad  journey  to 
the  West.  At  every  suburban  station,  and 
even  along  the  line,  knots  and  crowds  gathered 
and  all  uncovered  in  the  momentary  presence  of 
the  dead.  In  the  city,  as  the  train  passed, 
bells  tolled,  and  minute  guns  were  fired  from  the 
hillsides,  while  all  flags  drooped  at  half-mast  in  the 
driving  rain. 

The  departure  from  Pittsburgh  was  at  7.10, 
Central  time.  The  only  additions  to  the  party 
at  this  point  were  Assistant  Superintendent 
Turner,  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  and  Divi- 
sion Superintendent  Bradley  of  the  Western 
Union  Company.  Breakfast  was  served  as 
soon  as  the  train  had  got  outside  of  the  city 
limits  on  its  way  westward.  While  the  travelers 
were  thus  engaged  the  storm  cleared  away,  the 
sun  shone  out  brightly,  and  a  pleasant  day 
seemed  to  be  in  prospect.  After  they  had  break- 
fasted, the  members  of  the  family  went  forward  to 


THE  FUNERAL.  167 

the  car  containing  the  body  of  the  General  and 
remained  there  ten  or  fifteen  minutes.  They 
found  several  beautiful  floral  pieces  that  had  been 
put  on  board  by  Grand  Army  posts. 

Many  requests  had  been  received  from  posts 
in  towns  through  which  the  train  was  to  pass  that 
it  might  be  allowed  to  stop  at  these  places 
and  the  funeral  car  be  opened  to  the  veterans. 
General  Howard  had  to  refuse  all  these  requests, 
as  to  comply  with  them  would  delay  the  progress 
of  the  train  too  much.  The  Ohio  River  was 
crossed  at  8.40,  and  ten  minutes  later  Steubenville, 
Ohio,  was  reached.  Hundreds  of  workmen  from 
the  factories  of  the  place  were  gathered  at  the 
station,  where  the  train  made  a  short  stop.  They 
were  clad  in  their  working  clothes,  but  every  man 
reverently  removed  his  hat  while  the  train  re- 
mained at  the  station. 

A  touching  scene  was  witnessed  here.  About 
seventy-five  veterans  of  Stanton  Post  were  drawn 
up  in  line  on  the  platform.  They  were  all  old 
men,  many  of  them  cripples,  and  as  they  marched 
by  the  car  containing  the  General's  body  more 
than  half  of  them  were  crying  like  children. 


168          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

At  Cadiz  Junction,  which  was  passed  at  10.05, 
a  number  of  veterans  from  Cadiz  stood  on  the 
platform,  one  of  their  number  holding  the 
remnants  of  a  battle-torn  flag.  Twenty-five  min- 
utes later,  as  the  train  rushed  by  the  little  station 
of  Scio,  those  in  the  cars  caught  a  slight  glimpse 
of  a  company  of  zouaves  and  a  Grand  Army  post 
paraded  in  front  of  the  station.  Dennison  was 
reached  at  10.50. 

At  Dennison  a  large  crowd  was  gathered  at 
the  station,  and  the  comrades  of  Welch  Post, 
of  Ulrichsville,  Ohio,  were  there  also.  The  door 
of  the  funeral  car  was  opened  and  they  were 
allowed  to  take  a  look  at  the  casket.  After  a 
short  stop  here  the  train  resumed  its  westward 
journey. 

At  Newcomerstown  all  the  public  school  chil- 
dren stood  in  line  at  the  street  crossing,  with 
heads  uncovered  and  carrying  small  flags  edged 
with  black.  As  the  train  passed  by  they  could  be 
heard  singing  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee."  At 
Coshocton  over  500  school  children  stood  in  a 
long  line  on  the  street  running  parallel  with  the 
track  while  the  train  passed  through  the  place. 


THE  FUNERAL.  169 

The  church  and  fire  bells  of  the  town  were  tolled. 
A  similar  demonstration  was  made  at  Trinway. 

At  1.25  the  train  stopped  in  front  of  the  station 
at  Newark.  Here  Mrs.  Granger  and  her  son 
Sherman  Granger  boarded  the  train.  Lemert 
Post  had  about  one  hundred  men  in  line  on  the 
platform,  and  their  fife  and  drum  corps  played 
"In  the  Sweet  Bye  and  Bye"  as  the  train  came  to 
a  stop.  The  doors  of  the  car  in  which  the  body 
was  were  opened  and  the  veterans  took  a  look  at 
the  casket  as  they  passed.  The  entire  trip  from 
Pittsburgh  to  this  point  was  interspersed  with  dem- 
onstrations of  sorrow  at  the  death  of  a  universally 
beloved  soldier  and  citizen  by  all  classes  of  the 
people.  The  family  of  Gen.  Sherman  became, 
as  the  day  passed  and  these  signs  of  sorrow  mul- 
tiplied, more  and  more  impressed  with  the  great 
love  the  people  bore  for  the  General. 

Father  Thomas  E.  Sherman  said  that  he  would 
conduct  the  services  at  his  fathers  grave  in  Cal- 
vary Cemetery  in  St.  Louis.  Just  what  the  order 
of  services  would  be  he  could  not  say  until  he 
arrived  there. 

As  the  train  rolled  into  the   Union  Station  at 


170          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

Columbus  at  2.25,  the  space  on  each  side  was 
crowded  with  people,  and  for  squares  away  there 
was  a  mass  struggling  to  get  a  view  of  the 
train.  McCoy  Post  and  Wells  Post  were  in  the 
station,  accompanied  by  a  drum  corps.  Senator 
Sherman,  ex-President  Hayes,  Gen.  Ewing,  and 
others  of  the  party  came  from  the  train  and  had 
a  brief  talk  with  relatives  who  had  co/ne  to  the 
train.  The  officers  from  the  United  States  gar- 
rison in  this  city  were  at  the  train  to  meet  the 
Government  officials.  A  number  of  the  relatives 
of  the  General  from  Lancaster  and  Zanesville, 
Ohio,  joined  the  funeral  party  at  this  point. 

The  parade  of  the  military  took  place  before 
the  arrival  of  the  train.  The  Seventeenth  Regi- 
ment, Col.  Pocock,  about  five  hundred  men, 
reached  the  Union  Station  half  an  hour  before 
the  funeral  train  arrived,  and  proceeded  by  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  and  Ohio  and  Mississippi  to 
St.  Louis.  The  Fourteenth  Regiment,  Col.  A.  B. 
Coit,  about  the  same  number  of  men,  left  at  the 
same  time  over  the  Big  Four  route.  The  mem- 
bers of  Gov.  Campbell's  staff  accompanied  the 
officers  of  the  Fourteenth  Regiment.  The  mem- 


THE  FUNERAL.  171 

bers  of  the  joint  legislative  committee  designated 
to  attend  the  funeral  had  a  special  car,  which 
was  attached  to  the  regular  Pan  Handle  train 
west,  following  the  funeral  train. 

A  wait  of  forty-five  minutes  was  given  the  fun- 
eral train  at  Columbus.  The  engine  which  was 
taken  here  was  394,  in  charge  of  Engineer  Phil 
Chase,  of  Columbus,  and  Conductor  H.  M.  May, 
of  Indianapolis.  The  engine  was  elaborately 
draped  and  decorated.  Above  the  headlight  was 
a  large-size  crayon  portrait  of  Gen.  Sherman, 
surmounted  by  an  eagle  with  spread  wings,  and 
beneath  the  picture  was  the  inscription,  "Ohio's 
son,  the  Nation's  hero,"  in  large  letters.  The 
railings  of  the  engine  were  studded  with  small 
flags  with  fringe  drapery.  The  train  pulled  out 
on  time — 3.15  p.  M. 

At  Columbus  the  funeral  party  was  joined  by 
William  McComb,  George  Ewing,  Judge  and 
Mrs.  R.  B.  Ewing,  and  Miss  Ewing.  The  widow 
of  Gov.  Dennison  entered  the  car  occupied 
by  the  Sherman  family  and  made  a  call  of  a  few 
minutes. 

At  Richmond,  Ind.,  Gov.  Hovey  met  the  party 


172          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

and  escorted  it  to  Indianapolis,  accompanied  by 
Grand  Commander  Stormount,  of  the  Grand 
Army.  More  than  10,000  people  were  at  Rich- 
mond station  to  meet  the  train.  A  handsome 
floral  tribute  from  Meredith  Post  was  placed  on 
the  casket  containing  the  body  of  Gen.  Sherman. 
As  soon  as  the  old  soldiers  on  the  platform  heard 
that  Gen.  Schofield  was  on  the  train  they  called  for 
him.  He  came  to  the  platform  of  his  car  and  said: 
"There  are  a  thousand  of  my  children  here  that 
I  know.  I  am  glad  to  see  so  many  of  you  in  good 
health.  It  is  under  sad  conditions  that  we  meet. 
We  have  all  lost  a  comrade  and  friend.  Take 
good  care  of  yourselves,  boys,  and  good-bye." 

HE  IS  LAID  IN  HIS  TOMB. 

The  remains  of  Gen.  William  Tecumseh  Sher- 
man were  laid  to  rest  in  Calvary  Cemetery  with 
imposing  ceremonies,  combining  severe  simplicity 
and  military  grandeur  in  a  manner  that  gave  to 
St.  Louisians  and  the  thousands  of  strangers  who 
came  to  participate  or  see  the  solemn  show  a 
spectacle  that  has  rarely,  if  ever,  been  equaled  in 
the  West 


THE  FUNERAL.  173 

The  weather  was  perfect.  The  sun  shone 
brightly,  affording  sufficient  heat  to  temper  the 
bracing  breeze  so  that  marching  was  not  in  the 
least  fatiguing.  The  funeral  took  place  almost 
exactly  on  time.  The  preliminaries  had  been  so 
arranged  that  the  great  procession  was  very  little 
late  in  moving,  and  there  were  but  few  inter- 
ruptions to  its  progress.  The  ceremonies  at- 
tending the  burial  of  the  famous  soldier  passed  off 
without  any  particularly  unpleasant  incident  or 
accident. 

As  early  as  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  crowds 
began  to  assemble  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Union 
Station  in  order  to  secure  a  vantage  point  from 
which  to  witness  the  arrival  of  the  funeral  train, 
which  was  due  at  8.30.  An  hour  before  the  train 
arrived  the  streets  for  many  blocks  in  all  direc- 
tions were  a  solid  mass  of  humanity.  At  8.45 
A.M.  the  funeral  train  pulled  slowly  into  the 
station,  minute-guns  stationed  on  Poplar  Street, 
west  of  the  Twelfth  Street  bridge,  announcing  the 
arrival.  The  firing  continued  until  the  train  had 
come  to  a  standstill,  with  the  funeral  car  just  west 
of  Twelfth  Street  and  the  rear  coach,  containing 


174         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

the  family  and  relatives,  immediately  in  front  of 
the  Poplar  Street  entrance.  The  entire  train  was 
draped  in  sombre  black,  the  funeral  car  being 
completely  covered  with  the  emblems  of  mourn- 
ing, even  the  doors  and  platforms.  This  car  con- 
tained only  the  remains  and  the  guard  of  honor, 
which  was  in  charge  of  Second  Lieut.  Samuel 
Rodman,  Jr.  The  guard  consisted  of  Sergts. 
Gottlieb  Maschl  and  John  Reardon,  of  Battery  G, 
and  Eugene  McCarthy,  of  Battery  A,  First 
Artillery,  from  Fort  Hamilton ;  Sergt.  John  E. 
Hogan,  of  Battery  C,  First  Artillery,  from  Fort 
Wadsworth ;  Sergt.  Frederick  Soule,  of  Battery 
H,  and  Sergt.  Charles  Foley. 

Next  to  the  funeral  cars  was  dining  car  No. 
704,  then  two  Pullman  palace  cars,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  train  the  private  car  of  President  Roberts 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  which 
was  occupied  by  the  members  of  the  family,  con- 
sisting of  the  Rev.  Thomas  E.  Sherman,  Misses 
Elizabeth  and  Rachel  Sherman,  Lieut.  T.  W. 
Fitch,  Lieut,  and  Mrs.  A.  M.  Thackara,  Mr.  P.  T. 
Sherman,  Mr.  T.  Fitch,  and  Miss  Elizabeth 
Rees.  In  the  car  immediately  ahead  of  the  one 


THE  FUNERAL. 


175 


occupied  by  the  family  were  Private  Secretary 
Barrett,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Reese,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Thomas  Steele,  Judge  and  Mrs.  Andrews,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Probasco,  Cols.  Dayton  and  Bacon,  Gen.  and 
Mrs.  Hugh  Ewing,  William  McComb,  Col.  Reese, 
and  Dr.  Alexander.  The  other  Pullman  seats 
had  been  given  Secretary  Noble  of  the  Interior 
Department,  Secretary  Rusk  of  the  Agricultural 
Department,  Gens.  Schofield,  Slocum,  and 
Howard,  Gen.  and  Mrs.  Nelson  A.  Miles,  Gen. 
and  Mrs.  Thomas  Ewing,  Judge  P.  B.  Ewing,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Charles  Ewing,  Henry  Sherman,  Mrs. 
Colgate  Hoyt,  Charles  and  Hoyt  Sherman, 
Mrs.  Wittig,  May  Randolph,  and  several  army 
officers. 

The  police  arrangements  were  not  of  the  best, 
and  Chief  of  Police  Harrigan  had  some  difficulty 
in  clearing  the  streets  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  train.  This  was  finally  done,  however,  and 
then  the  committee  of  twenty-five  appointed  to 
iceive  those  who  had  come  to  St.  Louis  on  the  sad 
lission,  together  with  a  delegation  from  Ransom 
'ost,  G.  A.  R.,  and  prominent  citizens  of  the  city 
md  State,  headed  by  Gov.  David  R.  Francis, 


176          LIIE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

marched  up  the  platform  and  greeted  first  Sen- 
ator Sherman,  of  Ohio,  who  had  got  out  to  "  rest 
himself,"  as  he  expressed  it,  and  then  Secretaries 
Noble  and  Rusk,  Gen.  Nelson  A.  Miles,  and 
others,  who  had  alighted  from  the  train.  The 
members  of  the  family  and  the  majority  of  those 
on  the  train  did  not,  however,  come  out,  and  the 
committee,  after  extending  greetings  to  those  on 
the  platform,  entered  the  cars.  Several  ladies, 
friends  of  the  Sherman  family,  were  also  at  the 
station,  and  a  number  of  them  entered  the  private 
car  to  extend  their  sympathies  to  the  bereaved. 
A  few  of  the  distinguished  travelers  left  the  car 
from  time  to  time  and  stretched  their  legs  on  the 
platform,  but  there  was  nothing  out  of  ordinary 
until  the  time  for  removing  the  body  arrived.' 

Meantime  the  various  divisions  of  the  great 
procession  were  forming  on  various  streets  east 
of  Twenty-fourth  and  north  of  the  station.  The 
crowd  along  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  streets  was 
very  large,  and  in  consequence  of  the  doubt  as  to 
which  street  the  procession  would  pass  through, 
constant  rushes  occurred  along  Clark,  Walnut 
and  Market  streets ;  people  moving  from  one 


THE  FUNERAL.  177 

street  to  another.  The  crowd  grew  every  minute, 
On  to  the  roofs  of  most  of  the  buildings  on 
Eleventh  street  people  had  climbed,  and  on  the 
flat  roofs  there  were  crowds.  The  police  upset 
the  calculations  of  those  who  had  made  up  their 
minds  to  view  the  procession  from  wagons  by 
keeping  the  street  clear,  and  it  was  only  at  the 
intersections  that  the  wagon  arrangements  could 
be  operated  successfully. 

Owing  to  the  extraordinarily  good  condition  of 
the  streets,  those  who  kept  on  their  feet  had  about 
the  best  of  it.  Thanks  to  copious  rain,  followed 
by  the  drying  wind  and  sun,  the  granite  was 
as  clean  as  though  it  had  been  scrubbed.  The 
telegraph  poles  were  as  crowded  as  it  was 
possible  to  crowd  them,  and  there  was  little 
chance  to  move  on  the  sidewalk,  so  tightly  was 
the  mass  of  humanity  wedged  in.  All  around 
Grant's  statue  was  a  mass  of  people,  and  right 
on  the  north  line  of  Pine  street  wagons  were 
ranged  side  by  side,  the  occupants  having  the 
advantage  of  watching  the  procession  as  it 
marched  up  from  the  south  and  wheeled  to  the 

west.     Along  Pine  street  the  people  were  stancl- 
12 


178          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

ing  forty  and  fifty  deep  where  the  street  intersec- 
tions rendered  this  possible. 

Just  before  10  o'clock  the  caisson  upon  which 
the  casket  was  to  be  borne  to  the  cemetery  ar- 
rived at  the  station,  and  immediately  came  the 
infantry  of  the  regular  army,  led  by  General  For- 
syth.  The  infantry  were  quickly  drawn  up  in 
line  on  the  north  side  of  Poplar  street,  facing  the 
station,  and  the  carriages  to  convey  the  funeral 
party  to  the  cemetery  were  promptly  got  into 
line.  Then  the  caisson  was  backed  up  to  the 
arched  entrance  to  the  station-grounds,  just  east 
of  Eleventh  street,  and  the  riderless  horse  bear- 
ing the  saddle,  bridle,  boots  and  riding  equip- 
ments of  General  Sherman,  pranced  and  tugged 
at  the  bridle-rein,  held  firmly  by  Sergeant  Roth- 
geber,  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry,  and  seemed  eager 
to  be  on  the  move. 

The  local  pall-bearers — Colonel  George  E. 
Leighton,  Colonel  Charles  Parsons,  Byron  Sher- 
man. Daniel  R.  Garrison,  Isaac  Sturgeon,  Thomas 
E.  Tutt  and  R.  P.  Tanzy — alighted  from  a  car- 
riage, and  formed  in  two  lines  near  the  open  door 
of  the  funeral  car,  the  car  having  been  backed 


THE  FUNERAL.  179 

down  to  the  eastern  exit,  and  were  soon  joined 
by  the  honorary  military  pall-bearers,  Major- 
Generals  Beckwith,  Smith,  Turner  and  Warner, 
Brigadier-General  Barringer,  and  Commander 
Cotton  of  the  Navy.  In  the  rear  of  the  pall- 
bearers were  members  of  General  Sherman's 
personal  staff,  and  others  who  had  been  closely 
associated  with  him  in  life. 

Eight  sturdy,  broad-shouldered  cavalrymen  ad- 
vanced towards  the  funeral  car,  and  at  that  mo- 
ment the  band  struck  up  a  dirge.  The  guard  of 
honor  within  the  car,  surrounded  by  the  members 
of  Ransom  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  lifted  the  casket  from  the 
catafalque  and  placed  it  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
cavalrymen.  Then  the  hoarse  voice  of  General 
Forsyth  rang  out  and  hundreds  of  guns  flashed 
in  the  sunlight  as  the  infantry  responded.  Gen- 
eral Merritt  rode  up  the  line,  orders  were  given 
to  aides,  and  in  less  than  a  minute  the  infantry 
had  formed  by  fours  and  was  marching  north  on 
Eleventh  street.  Then  came  the  caisson  bearing 
the  casket,  followed  by  the  riderless  horse,  bear- 
ing the  dead  General's  saddle  and  trappings. 
Then  came  Ransom  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  and  when 


180          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

that  much  of  the  cortege  had  passed  out  at  Pop- 
lar street  into  Eleventh  street,  the  carriages  drew 
up  into  line,  and  those  who  had  accompanied 
the  remains  from  New  York  were  quickly  trans- 
ferred from  the  train  to  the  carriages  in  waiting. 

The  ladies  of  the  family  were  all  heavily  veiled, 
and  the  Misses  Sherman  were  clad  in  the  deepest 
mourning.  After  they  had  been  cared  for,  Secre- 
tary and  Mrs.  Noble  and  Secretary  Rusk  and 
others  were  escorted  to  their  respective  carriages, 
and  that  portion  of  the  cort6ge  moved  out  on 
Eleventh  street. 

The  new  caisson  on  which  the  remains  were 
conveyed  to  the  grave  was  brought  from  Fort 
Riley.  It  was  decorated  by  Captain  Murray.  The 
caisson  was  in  charge  of  Sergeant  John  Cahoon, 
with  thirteen  of  the  orioqnal  Wounded  Knee 

O 

troops,  including  Lieutenant  E.  T.  Wilson,  of  the 
First  Artillery.  The  first  of  the  six  bay  horses 
was  ridden  by  Bartholomew  Meloy,  the  §econd  by 
John  Ryan,  and  the  wheel-horse  by  John  Kraus. 
The  regular  troops  present  were  six  companies 
from  Fort  Leavenworth,  and  two  companies  from 
Fort  Supply,  Indian  Territory,  with  Colonel  E.  F. 


THE  FUNERAL.  181 

Townsend  in  command.  They  were  headed  by 
the  Twelfth  Infantry  band. 

At  10.45  tne  trumpeters,  blowing  the  "Gener- 
al's March,"  announced  the  arrival  of  the  casket 
at  the  caisson.  In  a  very  few  minutes  the  long 
line  of  regulars  filed  out  of  Poplar  street  upon 
Eleventh  street.  Ransom  Post  then  marched  up 
Poplar  to  the  station  entrance,  where  the  caisson 
stood,  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  men  in  all. 
On  the  extreme  right  of  the  infantry  was  Captain 
T.  A.  Lacy,  Company  A,  thirty-eight  men ;  next 
came  Captain  S.  M.  McConihe,  Company  H,  forty 
men ;  Captain  J.  F.  Stretch,  Company  B,  forty- 
three  men ;  Captain  H.  G.  Brown,  Twelfth  In- 
fantry, Company  E,  forty  men ;  Captain  J.  M.  J. 
Sanno,  Company  H,  Seventh  Infantry,  forty-eight 
men.  The  major  portion  of  the  Seventh  Infantry 
were  already  formed  at  the  extreme  right  of  the 
line  on  Pine  street,  from  Twelfth  to  Sixteenth 
street. 

It  was  n.oi  when  the  caisson  with  the  remains 
left  the  station  on  the  line  of  march.  Thomas 
Conley,  the  famous  bugler  of  C  Troop  of  the 
Seventh  Regiment,  was  at  the  corner  of  Twelfth 


182          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

and  Pine  streets  to  meet  the  first  of  the  divided 
line,  and  formally  blow  the  trumpet  blast  of 
"  Forward  "  to  the  great  and  solemn  procession. 
The  Twelfth  United  States  Infantry  band  from 
Fort  Leavenworth  came  up  playing  Chopin's 
Funeral  March.  At  11.19  Conley  blew  his 
bugle  for  the  formal  start  for  the  last  resting- 
place  of  the  veteran  warrior.  It  took  until  11.24 
for  word  to  be  sent  to  the  head  of  the  line  that  all 
was  in  readiness  in  the  rear,  and  at  that  time  the 
procession  moved,  headed  by  the  mounted 
platoons  of  police,  who  had  hard  work  to  clear 
the  way,  so  densely  packed  by  the  thousands  of 
eager  but  orderly  people. 

Brevet  Brig.-Gen.  James  W.  Forsyth,  Colonel 
of  the  Seventh  Cavalry,  commanding,  with  his 
staff  and  troops,  covered  a  mile  of  space  before 
the  band  ahead  of  the  caisson  and  casket  turned 
at  Twelfth  into  Pine  street.  West  on  Pine  street 
to  Grand  avenue,  a  distance  of  twenty-four 
blocks,  the  procession  moved,  and  then  it 
went  north  on  Grand  avenue  and  northwest 
on  Florissant  avenue  to  Calvary  Cemetery, 
through  such  crowds  as  have  seldom  witnessed 


THE  FUNERAL.  183 

a  pageant  in  St.  Louis.     The  distance  is  about 
seven  miles. 

The  procession  was  divided  into  six  grand 
divisions.  The  first  division  was  headed  by  a 
platoon  of  mounted  police ;  next  rode  the  bugle 
corps  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry.  Immediately  in 
their  rear  rode  Gen.  Wesley  Merritt  He  rode  a 
fine  bay  horse,  wore  his  fatigue  uniform  and 
forage  cap,  and  a  long  military  cloak.  The  hilt 
of  his  sword  was  bound  with  crape,  and  from  his 
shoulder  to  his  left  side  the  sash  of  the  Grand 
Marshal  was  studded  with  crape  rosettes.  Be- 
hind him  rode  his  staff,  composed  of  Col.  William 
J.  Volkmar,  Col.  C.  Page,  Col.  C.  W.  Foster, 
Major  J.  A.  Kress,  Major  P.  D.  Vroom,  Major 
Wirt  Davis,  Major  J.  B.  Babcock,  Capt.  W.  C. 
Forbush,  Capt.  C.  F.  Powell,  Capt.  F.  C.  Gruzel, 
Capt.  C.  A.  Whipple,  Capt.  A.  Murray,  Capt.  C. 
B.  Ewing,  United  States  Army ;  Capt.  C.  King, 
Lieut.  J.  N.  Allison,  Lieut.  O.  J.  Brown,  Lieut.  P. 
W.  West,  Lieut.  C.  J.  Bevins,  Gen.  D.  C.  Cole- 
man,  Col.  M.  L.  B.  Jenney,  Col.  S.  V.  Churchill, 
Major  T.  Pitzman,  Major  J.  P.  Dennis,  P.  A.; 
Surgeon  C.  T.  Peckham,  United  States  Hospital 


184  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

Marine  Service,  and  A.  E.  Surgeon  J.  B. 
Young. 

At  the  head  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry  rode  its 
Colonel,  J.  W.  Forsyth,  accompanied  by  his 
Adjutant,  Lieut.  L.  S.  McCormack,  and  his  regi- 
mental Quartermaster,  Lieut.  E.  B.  Fuller.  Next 
came  E  Troop,  under  command  of  Capt.  C.  S. 
Ilsley,  the  ranking  Captains  all  mounted  on  bay 
horses.  K  Troop  followed,  and  its  thinned  ranks 
bore  sad  testimony  to  the  desperate  nature  of  the 
struggle  at  Wounded  Knee.  Its  beloved  com- 
mander, Wallace,  was  replaced  by  Capt.  L. 
H.  Hare.  G  Company,  all  of  whose  troopers 
were  mounted  on  gray  horses,  and  D  Company, 
whose  mounts  were  black,  attracted  especial 
attention.  The  yellow  regimental  standard  was 
borne  in  the  middle  of  the  line. 

Six  troops  were  in  column — E  under  Capt.  C. 
S.  Ilsley  and  Lieuts.  H.  G.  Sickel  and  S.  Rice; 
K,  under  Capt.  L.  H.  Hare  and  Lieuts.  S.  J.  D. 
Mann  and  H.  G.  Squires ;  G,  under  Capt.  W.  S. 
Edgerly  and  Lieuts.  A.  P.  Brown  and  J.  F.  Bell ; 
I,  under  Capt.  H.  J.  Nowlan  and  Lieuts.  W.  J. 
Nicholson  and  J.  C,  Waterman ;  B,  under  Capt. 


THE  FUNERAL.  185 

C.  A.  Varnum  and  Lieuts.  J.  C.  Gresham  and  E. 
C.  Bullock,  and  D,  under  Capt.  E.  S.  Godfrey 
and  Lieuts.  W.  W.  Robinson,  Jr.,  and  S.  R.  H. 
Tompkins.  The  First  Battalion  was  commanded 
by  Col.  Forsyth  and  the  Second  by  Major  S.  M. 
Whiteside.  In  the  rear  of  the  cavalry  came  the 
artillery,  under  command  of  Major  E.  B.  Willis- 
ton.  Light  Battery  F  of  the  Second  Artillery 
marched  first,  commanded  by  Capt.  C.  A.  Wood- 
ruff and  Lieuts.  H.  A.  Reed,  E.  G.  Dudley,  and 
J.  Conklin,  Jr.  It  consisted  of  six  twelve-pound 
rifles.  The  artillerymen  were  seated  on  the 
limbers  and  caissons,  wearing  army  overcoats,  the 
capes  thrown  back  to  show  the  red  facings,  and 
the  horsemen  were  in  their  proper  positions. 

Next  came  Light  Battery  F  of  the  Fourth 
Artillery,  under  the  command  of  Capt.  G.  B. 
Rodney  and  Lieuts.  F.  S.  Strong,  A.  Cross 
White,  and  G.  W.  Gatchell.  This  battery  was 
armed  with  improved  breecfy-loading  rifles.  In 
the  rear  of  the  artillery  was  the  ambulance  and 
the  men  of  the  medical  corps,  under  command  of 
Dr.  J.  Van  Hoff.  In  the  rear  of  the  artillery 
marched  the  infantry,  Col.  E.  F.  Townsend  com- 


186          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

manding.  Company  A,  Tenth  Infantry,  Capt.  F. 
E.  Lowry  and  Lieuts.  I.  W.  Littell  and  F.  E. 
Lowry,  Jr.,  commanding;  Company  H,  Four- 
teenth Infantry,  Capt.  S.  McConihe  and  Lieuts. 
J.  F.  Eastman  and  W.  R.  Gample  commanding ; 
Company  E,  Twelfth  Infantry,  Capt  H.  G.  Brown 
and  Lieuts.  R.  K.  Evans  and  W.  E.  Ayers  com- 
manding; Company  H,  Seventh  Infantry,  Capt. 
J.  N.  J.  Ganne  and  Lieuts.  J.  B.  Jackson  and  A. 
J.  Lasseigne  commanding;  Company  E,  Thir- 
teenth Infantry,  Capt.  J.  S.  Bishop  and  Lieuts. 
W.  L.  Buck  and  C.  Koops  commanding ;  Com- 
pany H,  Thirteenth  Infantry,  Capt.  W.  Auman 
and  Lieuts.  G.  R.  Weil  and  J.  C.  Fox  command- 
ing; Company  F,  Thirteenth  Infantry,  Capt.  J. 
Forwarde  and  Lieuts.  M.  F.  James  and  J.  S. 
Gresaid  commanding,  and  Company  F,  Tenth  In- 
fantry, Capt.  J.  F.  Strech  and  Lieuts.  C.  J.  S. 
Clark  and  R.  L.  Bulkard  commanding. 

The  guard  of  honor  consisting  of  Ransom  Post 
and  the  survivors  of  the  Thirteenth  Regulars, 
came  next,  surrounding  the  caisson  bearing  the 
body.  Commander  H.  L.  Ripley  led  the  advance 
guard,  three  sets  of  fours  in  rank.  Next  came  the 


THE  FUNERAL.  187 

caisson,  drawn  by  four  black  horses,  ridden  by 
two  artillerymen  in  regular  uniform.  Close  to 
the  wheels  walked  the  Sergeants  who  had  accom- 
panied the  remains  from  New  York,  and  on  each 
side  of  them  marched  comrades  of  Ransom  Post. 
The  rear  was  closed  by  the  comrades  of  the  post. 
The  post  flag  was  borne  in  advance.  Behind  Ran- 
som Post  came  the  survivors  of  the  old  Thirteenth 
Infantry,  commanded  by  Sergt.  P.  J.  Carmody. 
All  wore  appropriate  badges,  and  one  of  the  men 
carried  a  beautiful  floral  tablet  presented  by  the 
Thirteenth.  The  funeral  cortege  was  closed  by  a 
long  line  of  carriages  containing  the  pall-bearers, 
the  members  of  the  family  and  members  of  the 
funeral  party. 

The  members  of  the  family  rode  in  the  follow- 
ing order :  First  carriage,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Sher- 
man, Mrs.  T.  W.  Fitch,  P.  T.  Sherman,  Miss  L. 
Sherman  ;  second  carriage,  Senator  Sherman, 
Mrs.  M.  W.  Thackara,  Col.  Hoyt  Sherman, 
Miss  Rachel  Sherman ;  third  carriage,  rjenry 
Sherman ;  Frank  Sherman,  and  Master  Willie 
Fitch;  fourth  carriage,  Judge  P.  B.  Ewing,  Mrs. 
P.  B.  Ewing,  Mrs.  M.  E.  Steele;  fifth  carriage,  Gen. 


188         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T,  SHERMAN. 

Thomas  Ewing,  Mrs.  Margaret  Reber,  Gen.  Nel- 
son A.  Miles,  and  Mrs.  Gen.  Miles ;  sixth  car- 
riage, Mr.  William  McComb,  Mrs.  Henry  Pro- 
basco,  Hoyt  Sherman,  Jr.  Miss  Nellie  Sherman  ; 
seventh  carriage,  Mrs.  Virginia  Ewing,  Sherman 
Granger,  Mrs.  Haldeman,  Frank  Weborg  ;  eighth 
carriage,  Mr.  Henry  Probasco,  Miss  Maud  Reber, 
Mr.  Haldeman,  Miss  Mary  Ewing ;  ninth  car- 
riage, Mr.  George  Ewing,  Miss  Mary  Ewing, 
Thomas  E.  Steele,  Mr.  John  Ewing  ;  tenth 
carriage,  Mr.  Reese  Reber,  Miss  Mary  Reber, 
Mr.  Charles  Ewing,  Miss  Elizabeth  Price ; 
eleventh  carriage,  Henry  Hitchcock,  Col. 
J.  M.  Bacon,  Col.  L.  M.  Dayton;  twelfth 
carriage,  Mr.  Asa  Stoddard,  Mr.  Charles 
Reber,  Mr.  Lyton  Reber,  Miss  Lizzie  Emetie ; 
thirteenth  carriage,  Dr.  Alexander,  Gen.  Fuller- 
ton,  J.  M.  Barrett,  secretary  of  Gen.  Sherman. 
Captain  Huggins ;  fourteenth  carnage,  Mrs, 
Henry  Turner's  family ;  fifteenth  carriage,  Mr.  E, 
J.  Ryjn,  Mrs.  E.  Ryan;  sixteenth  carriage,  Lieut. 
Fitch  and  Lieut.  Thackara. 

The  funeral  party  was  as    follows :  First   car- 
riage, Secretary  J.  W.   Noble,  Mrs.  Noble,  Judge 


THE  FUNERAL.  189 

Hough,  and  Major  Randolph  ;  second  carriage, 
Secretary  Rusk,  Assistant  Secretary  Grant,  Carlos 
S.  Greely,  and  Capt.  Kingsbury;  third  carriage, 
Ex-President  R.  B.  Hayes,  Gen.  Schofield,  Gov. 
Stanard,  and  Lieut.  Andrews  ;  fourth  carriage, 
Gen.  Howard,  Gen.  Slocum,  James  O.  Broad- 
head,  and  Lieut.  Howard ;  fifth  carriage,  Gen. 
Alger  and  Col.  William  McCrary,  of  Gen.  Sher- 
man's old  body  guard. 

The  second  division  consisted  of  the  Loyal 
Legion  and  other  army  societies  under  command 
of  Major  H.  L.  Morrill,  Commander  of  the  Mis- 
souri Commandery  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  and  a 
number  of  the  societies  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten- 
nessee. The  Illinois  contingent,  100  strong,  came 
first,  and  was  followed  by  members  of  the  society 
from  Ohio,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and 
Colorado.  Nearly  all  who  wore  the  badge  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  were  also  decorated  with 
the  Loyal  Legion  button,  as  the  constitution  of 
the  two  societies  is  similar,  none  but  commissioned 
officers  being  eligible. 

The  third  division  consisted  of  Grand  Army 
posts,  Sons  of  Veterans  and  allied  organizations. 


190         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

First  came  Grand  Marshal  Rassieur,  with  the 
following  staff:  Louis  Koop,  John  C.  Bensieck, 
Anton  Demuth,  Val  Earth,  John  P.  Kivits,  E.  W. 
Duncan,  Daniel  Clock,  F.  G.  Uthoff,  Charles 
Moller,  H.  R.  Taylor,  Madison  Miller,  C.  V.  Bisser, 
Anthony  D.  Englemann,  Arnold  Beck,  E.  L. 
Gottschalk,  W.  H.  Uthoff,  W.  H.  Butler,  P.  F. 
Bobe,  J.  N.  Hutchinson,  Max  Langan,  and  O.  C. 
Eadmann.  There  were  about  1,200  men  in  all, 
representing  all  the  Grand  Army  posts  in  the 
city  and  many  from  other  cities.  The  depart- 
ment commanders  and  their  staffs  followed  in 
behind  Commander-in-Chief  Veazey  as  follows  : 
Department  Commander  W.  L.  Diston,  of  Illinois, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  his  staff;  De- 
partment Commander  Clarkson,  of  Nebraska,  and 
his  staff;  Department  Commander  Henry  M. 
Duffield,  of  Michigan,  and  his  staff;  Department 
Commander  Collins,  of  Kansas,  and  his  staff. 

The  fourth  division  was  headed  by  Gov.  D. 
R.  Francis  and  staff.  The  Missouri  militia  fol- 
lowed. This  portion  of  the  division  included 
about  1,200  men.  Following  the  Missouri  militia 
came  the  militia  from  Ohio,  under  the  command 


THE  FUNERAL.  191 

of  Gen.  Hawkins.  This  detachment  consisted  of 
three  regiments — the  First,  Fourteenth  and  Sev- 
enteenth Ohio — in  all  about  1,400  men.  Next 
came  the  Missouri  judiciary,  in  carriages,  followed 
by  the  Missouri  Legislature  delegation,  the  Illi- 
nois Legislature,  and  members  of  the  Ohio  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

The  fifth  division  included  the  ex-Confederate 
Historical  Society,  under  command  of  Major  C. 
C.  Rainwater,  and  several  civil  societies.  The 
sixth  division  was  made  up  of  miscellaneous  civil, 
mercantile,  industrial,  and  other  organizations. 

At  the  corner  of  Easton  and  Grand  Avenues 
about  one-fourth  of  the  procession,  including 
most  of  the  Grand  Army  veterans,  dropped  out 
of  line.  Some  of  them,  however,  took  carriages 
and  continued  the  journey  to  the  cemetery. 
Ransom  Post  arranged  its  guard  of  honor  in  re- 
lays. One  delegation  marched  as  far  as  Easton 
and  Grand  Avenues,  where  a  relay  was  in  wait- 
ing. These  took  their  places  beside  the  coffin 
and  marched  half  the  remaining  distance  to  the 
cemetery,  where  they  were  relieved  by  a  third 
delegation,  which  served  the  rest  of  the  distance. 


192         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

The  long  march  to  the  cemetery  was  tiresome 
in  the  extreme  for  those  who  had  to  make  the 
journey  on  foot,  as  thousands  did. 

By  8  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  people  began 
gathering  about  the  entrances  to  the  cemetery, 
but  they  found  there  a  detail  of  United  States 
regulars  to  keep  them  out,  and  only  a  few  fav- 
ored ones  gained  admission.  At  10  o'clock  Un- 
dertaker Thomas  Lynch  and  his  corps  of  assist- 
ants arrived  at  the  grave  in  the  Sherman  lot  and 
began  to  arrange  the  preliminaries.  The  grave 
had  been  dug  the  night  before  and  the  earth 
taken  therefrom  cleaned  up  and  confined  in  a 
framework.  The  ground  in  the  immediate  vicin- 
ity of  the  grave  had  been  covered  for  a  radius  of 
probably  100  feet  with  canvas.  By  n  o'clock 
the  carriages  began  to  arrive,  loaded  with '  floral 
tributes. 

It  was  just  1.55  o'clock  when  the  head  of  the 
funeral  procession  reached  the  Florissant  Avenue 
entrance  to  the  cemetery.  Already  the  avenue 
for  nearly  a  mile  was  bordered  on  both  sides 
with  people,  and  the  great  sea  of  human  beings 
was  surging  and  beating  against  the  gates  and 


THE  FUNERAL.  193 

walls  of  the  cemetery.  The  crowd  were  driven 
back  and  an  effort  was  made  to  hold  them  until 
the  funeral  party  could  get  through  the  gates. 
This  was  in  a  degree  successful.  The  roadway 
and  entrances  were  kept  clear,  but  hundreds 
climbed  over  the  high  stone  walls,  and  there  was 
a  wild  rush  for  advantageous  positions  near  the 
grave.  The  rushers  were,  however,  disappointed, 
for  careful  preparations  had  been  made  to  keep 
ample  space  clear  for  the  ceremonies. 

The  carriages  containing  the  mourners  drove 
up  close  to  the  spot  selected  for  the  General's 
last  resting-place,  and  the  members  of  the  family 
were  soon  in  position  at  the  head  of  the  open 
grave.  The  caisson  containing  the  coffin  stopped 
some  distance  away.  The  casket  was  borne  to 
the  grave  attended  by  the  honorary  pall-bearers. 
Then  the  Rev.  Father  Sherman,  son  of  the  dead 
General,  book  in  hand,  advanced  to  the  grave. 
All  this  was  done  expeditiously,  and,  in  fact,  oc- 
cupied very  little  more  time  than  is  required  to 
tell  of  it.  As  the  casket  was  lowered  into  the 
grave  Father  Sherman  began  the  Roman  Catholic 
burial  service,  which  he  conducted  without  assist- 
13 


194          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

ance,  although  there  were  two  other  priests  in  the 
party.  The  grave  was  then  filled,  and  as  the  men 
with  shovels  were  shaping  the  mound  the  family 
moved  away  to  their  carriages. 

The  firing  party,  a  battalion  of  regular  in- 
fantry, took  position  in  the  roadway,  probably 
thirty  feet  northeast  of  the  grave,  and  at  the  word 
of  command  discharged  three  volleys.  The 
smoke  from  their  rifles  was  still  thick  when  the 
artillery,  a  hundred  yards  away,  thundered  forth 
three  volleys,  and  the  last  rites  were  complete. 
Then  began  a  stampede  for  home.  The  regular 
troops  were  taken  direct  from  the  cemetery  to 
Jefferson  Barracks  by  railroad.  Those  who  went 
in  carriages  had  a  pleasant  drive  returning,  but 
the  great  throng  who  went  on  foot  or  depended 
on  street-car  service  had  a  hard  time  to  get 
back  to  the  city.  The  outgoing  trains  in  all  direc- 
tions were  crowded  this  evening,  with  departing 
people. 

The  New  York  Times  describes  the  funeral  in 
its  editorial  columns  as  follows:  "Once  before  New 
York  has  seen  a  military  pageant,  arranged  upon 
a  like  occasion,  that  was  even  more  deeply  im- 


THE  FUNERAL.  195 

pressive  than  the  funeral  procession  of  Gen. 
Sherman,  which  yesterday  passed  slowly  through 
streets  packed  on  either  side  with  people. 
Another  pageant  of  the  same  kind  equal  to  it  the 
present  generation  of  New-Yorkers  are  not 
likely  to  see.  It  is  not  even  to  be  desired  that 
they  should  see  it.  For  the  funeral  honors  paid 
to  Gen.  Grant  five  years  ago  last  August  and 
those  paid  yesterday  to  Gen.  Sherman  were  hon- 
ors such  as  could  be  paid  only  to  men  who  had 
delivered  their  country  from  mortal  peril,  such  as 
it  is  to  be  hoped  the  Nation  may  not  again  en- 
counter in  our  time.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of 
men  did  for  the  Union  what  they  could,  but  by  fate 
and  chance  and  desert,  combined  in  proportions 
that  no  man  is  wise  enough  to  assign  with  exact- 
ness, these  two  men  became  the  heroes  of  the 
war,  and  when  it  was  over  it  was  by  common  con- 
sent that  it  was  decreed  that  its  first  honors  should 
fall  to  them.  Such  services  as  it  is  now,  and  as  it 
is  henceforth  likely  to  be  in  the  power  of  Ameri- 
cans to  render  their  country,  are  not  the  services 
that  strike  the  popular  imagination  like  the  deeds 
of  a  great  soldier.  They  are  the  services  of 


196          LTFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

patient  and  careful  statesmanship.  These  are  only 
comparable  in  public  esteem  to  military  services 
when  they  are  accompanied  by  that  gift  of  elo- 
quent speech  that  seems  either  to  be  less  com- 
mon than  it  was  in  the  earlier  days  of  the  Repub- 
lic, or  to  have  lost  its  national  influence  as  the 
national  interests  have  increased.  Assuredly 
there  is  no  one  left  to  die  and  be  buried  the  story 
of  whose  achievements  is  at  once  so  familiar  and 
so  stirring  to  his  countrymen  as  that  of  Gen. 
Sherman's. 

"  Any  comparison  between  the  honors  paid  to 
Gen.  Grant  and  those  paid  to  Gen.  Sherman  is 
really  a  comparison  between  the  emotions  with 
which  the  two  funerals  were  regarded  by  those 
who  witnessed  them  and  by  those  who  read  of 
them,  and  any  such  comparison  is  fallacious,  if  not 
impossible.  Gen.  Grant's  funeral  was  the  occa- 
sion of  a  great  reconciliation  in  a  sense  in  which 
the  funeral  of  no  other  man  could  be.  'The  en- 
emies he  had  made  were  not  alone  those  whom 
he  had  fought  in  war.  He  had  permitted  himself 
to  be  drawn  into  civil  strife.  He  had  twice  been 
chosen  to  the  Presidency,  after  heated  contests,  in 


THE  FUNERAL.  197 

which  a  very  great  number  of  his  countrymen  had 
come  sincerely  to  regard  him  as  a  public  enemy, 
and  he  had  held  office  at  a  time  when  sectional 
bitterness  had  by  no  means  died  away,  and  when 
no  man  could  have  been  President  without  array- 
ing against  himself   either  the   majority  at    the 
North  or  the  majority  at  the  South.     But   little 
more  than  eight  years  separated  his  retirement 
from  the   Presidency  from  his   death,  and  eight 
years  would  not  have  been  long  enough  for  the 
passions  his  political  career  had  excited  to  subside 
but  for  the  events  of  these  intervening  years.     To 
him  they  had  been  years  of  darkness  and  sorrow, 
and  his  life  was  ended  by  a  torturing  and  linger- 
ing malady  at  an  age  when,  according  to  the  com- 
mon   computation,    he    had    still    some  years   of 
activity  and  usefulness  before  him.     The  heroic 
patience  with  which  he  continued  during  his  last 
days  the  work  by  which  he  hoped  to  leave  his  fam- 
ily above  want  constituted  the   strongest  claim 
upon  human  sympathy,  and  the  earnest  appeals 
that  he  put  forth  from  his  sick-room,  and  almost 
from  his  death-bed,  for  a  closer  reunion  of  the 
States     touched    all     American     hearts.       The 


198          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

Southerners  who  assembled  at  his  funeral  came 
to  show  that  they  forgave  him  freely,  but  they  felt 
that  they  had  something-  to  forgive. 

"  In  the  last-  days  of  General  Sherman  there 
was  no  such  gloomy  tragedy  as  this,  a  tragedy  of 
which  the  nobility  could  not  dispel  the  gloom,  and 
which  made  the  funeral  of  General  Grant  an 
event  unique  in  our  history  and  in  all  history. 
It  was  a  quarter  of  a  century  since  General 
Sherman  had  finished  his  work,  and  when  the  war 
was  over  he  left  all  its  bitterness  behind  him.  In 
the  long  interval  he  had  led  a  happy  life,  but  for 
his  share  of  the  sorrows  that  are  common  to  all 
mankind,  an  honored  life,  and  a  life  that  was  at 
once  peaceful  and  active.  He  died  full  of  years 
and  of  honors,  without  surviving  his  interest  in 
life  or  his  faculties  of  enjoyment.  To  those  who 
honor  and  who  mourn  him  it  seems  that  there  is 
here  no  tragedy-beyond  the  universal  tragedy  of 
mortality,  and  that  an  enviable  life  has  been 
crowned  by  an  enviable  death." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

HIS  CHARACTER. 

/^ENERAL  SHERMAN  was  a  man  who 

possessed  great  simplicity  of  character,  and 
was  noted  for  his  love  of  truth  and  honesty.  He 
would  never  for  an  instant  condescend  to  receive 
praise  that  did  not  justly  belong  to  him.  He 
gave  a  signal  illustration  of  this  splendid  trait  in 
his  character  after  the  successful  investment  of 
Vicksburg.  The  conception  of  that  campaign 
was  attributed  to  him.  At  the  first  opportunity 
he  related  to  a  number  of  prominent  men  visiting 
the  army  at  the  time  an  incident  that  showed 
Grant  to  be  entitled  to  all  the  honor  and  that,  in 
fact,  the  movement  was  made  against  the  advice 
of  all  the  other  commanders,  including  himself, 
McPherson,  Logan  and  Wilson.  They  believed 
that  to  move  the  army  below  Vicksburg  was  to 
separate  it  from  the  North  and  all  its  supplies ; 
to  hazard  everything,  for  if  defeat  followed  it  was 

199 


200          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

certain  to  be  disastrous.  Sherman  told  that  even 
after  the  orders  to  march  had  been  issued  he 
rode  to  Grant's  headquarters  and  proposed  his 
own  plan,  which  was  that  Vicksburg  should  be 
attacked  from  the  north,  selecting  some  high 
ground  on  the  Mississippi  as  a  base  of  opera- 
tions. "  That,"  replied  Grant,  "  would  require  me 
to  go  back  to  Memphis."  "  Exactly,"  answered 
Sherman.  Grant  did  not  think  the  country  was 
in  any  mood  for  retrograde  movements  at  the 
time  and  adhered  to  his  purpose.  Sherman  rode 
back  to  his  quarters  discouraged  and  put  his  plan 
of  campaign  in  writing.  He  suggested  that  all 
the  corps  commanders  should  be  called  into 
council  and  the  subject  discussed.  Col.  Rawlins 
handed  the  paper  to  Grant  without  a  word.  He 
read  it  in  silence  and  made  no  comment.  "  But," 
says  Badeau,  "  the  orders  were  not  revoked,  the 
council  of  war  was  not  called  and  the  existence  of 
the  letter  was  never  mentioned  between  the  two 
commanders  or  disclosed  by  Grant.  It  was  Sher- 
man himself  who  told  the  story.  He  was  just 
and  generous  even  at  the  expense  of  hurting  his 
own  reputation." 


HIS  CHARACTER.  201 

The  following  anecdote  illustrates  the  simple 
taste  of  General  Sherman  : 

About  two  years  ago,  General  Sherman  asked 
ex-Gov.  Cornell,  then  Chairman  of  the  Grant 
Memorial  Committee,  what  were  the  prospects  of 
the  memorial.  "  It  will  be  built,  General,"  an- 
swered Cornell.  "  It  will  be  a  splendid  mausole- 
um, and  a  place  shall  be  reserved  for  you  in  it 
beside  Grant."  "No,  no!"  responded  Sherman, 
very  decidedly.  "  No  mausoleum  for  me.  I 
want  no  such  thing.  When  I  die  give  me  a  grave 
and  a  $75  tombstone — that's  all." 

ESTIMATES  OF  HIS  CHARACTER. 

No  better  estimate  of  his  character  can  be 
formed  than  by  giving  editorials  from  some  of 
the  leading  papers : 

"The  heroic  but  unequal  struggle  of  General 
Sherman  with  the  final  conqueror  of  all  men 
ended  yesterday.  The  brave  soldier  who  had 
faced  Death  without  fear  on  a  hundred  battle- 
fields, and  who  resisted  the  final  attack  with 
characteristic  grim  determination,  succumbed  at 
last. 


202          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

"  Gen.  Sherman  was  the  last  of  the  great  lead- 
ers of  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  In  some  respects 
he  was  the  most  popular  soldier  of  his  day.  In 
every  fibre  of  his  character  he  was  an  American. 
His  genius  was  of  that  quick  and  ready  kind 
that  characterizes  his  countrymen,  and  his  simplicity 
and  straight-forwardness  appealed  strongly  to  the 
democratic  mind  and  heart. 

"  In  the  early  days  of  the  war  tie  was  thought 
by  slower  and  more  conservative  men  to  be 
erratic.  His  brilliancy  dazzled  them.  They  could 
not  grasp  his  large  conceptions.  His  plans  and 
his  talk  were  far  above  the  heads  of  the  plodders. 
He  saw  the  vastness  of  the  undertaking,  the  im- 
mensity of  the  task  with  which  he  and  his  fellow- 
soldiers  were  charged.  Men  shook  their  heads 
when  he  proclaimed  his  opinions,  but  when  he 
faced  Joe  Johnston  he  played  the  game  of  grand 
strategy  with  the  skill  and  coolness  of  the  scien- 
tific soldier  that  he  was. 

"  In  peace  he  was  a  simple,  undemonstrative,  pat- 
riotic citizen.  He  wore  his  military  honors  modestly. 
He  never  reached  after  the  civic  crown.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  charming  and  interesting  men  of 


HIS  CHARACTER.  203 

his  time.  He  never  shrank  from  expressing  his 
opinion,  and  if  he  seemed  to  seek  controversy  it 
was  to  vindicate  the  truth. 

44  His  death  removes  a  familiar  and  much- 
loved  figure.  His  memory  will  linger  as  long  as 
military  genius,  rugged  honesty  and  high  patriot- 
ism hold  their  place  in  the  world." — New  York 
World. 

"  No  figure  in  late  years  had  become  more  famil- 
iar in  New  York  than  that  of  General  Sherman. 
The  simplicity,  candor,  and  childlikeness  of  his 
nature,  his  manly  cordiality  of  manner,  his  ready 
sympathy  and  lively  humor,  and  the  great  career 
of  heroic  achievement  which  lay  behind  all,  made 
him  a  most  interesting  and  memorable  personality. 
-His  name  is  indissolubly  associated  with  that  of 
General  Grant  in  the  history  of  the  civil  war,  and 
there  is  no  more  romantic  and  inspiring  story  iti 
our  national  annals  than  that  of  the  march  to  the 
sea. 

"The  General  was  always  welcome,  not  only  be- 
cause of  his  great  renown  and  his  illustrious  ser- 
vices, but  because  of  his  personal  charm.  The 
papers  have  been  full  of  conversations  which  re- 


204         LIFE  OP  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

call  his  happy  speeches,  the  constant  flow  of 
delightful  anecdote,  the  pleasant  dalliance  of  a 
great  nature  in  repose.  Edward  Everett,  in  his 
oration  at  the  unveiling  of  the  statue  of  Daniel 
Webster  in  Boston,  describes  the  Defender  of  the 
Constitution  on  the  evening  before  the  delivery  of 
his  most  famous  speech,  the  reply  to  Hayne,  and 
on  the  next  day  at  its  delivery  in  the  Senate.  In 
the  evening,  says  Everett,  but  in  his  most 
elaborate  and  consummately  effective  manner, 
he  was  like  one  of  the  boats  he  loved  rocking  and 
swinging  on  the  gentle  lap  of  the  waves  upon  the 
shore.  But  the  next  day  he  was  '  a  mighty  ad- 
miral '  in  action  on  mid-ocean,  with  all  his  broad- 
sides thundering,  his  canvas  strained,  and  his  flags 
and  pennants  streaming. 

"Sherman,  in  his  later  day,  as  we  have  known 
him  in  New  York,  was  the  boat  easily  swinging 
on  the  tide,  the  lightnings  of  battle  sheathed,  and 
the  frowning  tier  on  tier  of  guns  invisible.  It  is 
perhaps  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  feeling  with 
which  in  every  company  he  was  greeted  was  akin 
to  love.  It  is  good  to  think  of  him  so,  good  that 

the  last  thought  of  a  man  whose  name  is  honored 

. 

•     m 


HIS  CHARACTER.  205 

and  cherished  by  millions  should  be  as  kindly  and 
gentle  as  it  is  admiring  and  grateful.  So  he 
would  have  had  it,  and  would  have  asked  no 
sweeter  rosemary  for  remembrance." — Harpers 
Weekly. 

The  New  York  Herald  has  this  to  say: 

"  Sad  tidings  these,  that  General  William 
Tecumseh  Sherman  has  for  the  first  time  been 
forced  to  surrender. 

"  His  strategy  has  heretofore  been  that  of  at- 
tack, but  on  this  occasion  the  first  blow  was  de- 
livered by  the  enemy.  He  resisted  with  such 
vigor  as  old  age  provides,  made  a  brave  fight 
against  the  odds  of  Death,  yielded  to  the  only 
foe  of  mortality  who  never  lost  a  battle,  and  now 
'sleeps  in  fame.' 

"  But  death  has  bestowed  upon  him  a  double  im- 
mortality. He  will  live  forever  in  the  'mansions 
not  made  with  hands  '  and  live  forever  in  the 
hearts  of  a  grateful  people.  His  name  is  written 
on  this  lower  firmament  together  with  those  of 
Grant  and  Sheridan,  his  comrades  on  the  field — 
in  '  tracings  of  eternal  light,'  and  his  place  in  the 
Hereafter  is  assured  by  the  fact  that  the  jewel, 


206          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

honor,  which  he  has  worn  on  his  breast  for  the  space 
of  two  generations  has  never  lost  its  lustre. 

"Sherman's  rank  in  the  long  list  of  historic 
soldiers  may  be  safely  left  to  the  future.  For  the 
present,  discussion  must  give  way  to  eulogy.  We 
lift  no  curious  eyes  to  discover  the  height  of  his 
greatness,  have  no  desire  to  compare  him  with 
any  but  himself,  and  are  satisfied  with  the 
tender  memories  which  cluster  about  the  house  of 
mourning.  He  will  be  numbered  with  the  nation's 
most  illustrious  dead,  to  be  honored  as  a  leader 
of  our  hosts  on  the  perilous  field,  a  defender  of 
the  people's  cause,  a  valiant  contributor  to  that 
great  victory  which  made  republics  stronger  and 
thrones  weaker.  For  the  present,  therefore,  we 
leave  the  task  of  criticism  to  the  indifferent  or 
the  stranger,  and  speak  only  in  the  whisper  of 
sorrow  and  condolence. 

"  Sherman  was  in  many  respects  a  unique 
character.  He  was  a  man  of  simple  manners,  a 
product  of  our  peculiar  institutions,  as  pure- 
minded  and  honest  as  Coriolanus.  He  was 
blunt,  brusque  and  wore  his  heart  upon  his 
sleeve.  Had  there  been  no  war  he  might  have 


HIS  CHARACTER.  207 

found  no  opportunity — would  have  kept  the  even 
tenor  of  his  way  along  the  ordinary  level,  as  a 
merchant  or  the  president  of  a  military  academy. 
But  when  the  nation  trembled  for  its  fate  he 
gravitated  to  leadership  with  the  irrepressible  im- 
pulse of  commanding  ability.  His  sword  was 
forged  in  fire  and  tempered  with  blood.  He  rose 
from  lieutenant  to  General  by  hard  service  in 
front  of  the  enemy.  Without  ambition  except 
to  save  the  country,  always  master  of  the  position 
to  which  he  was  assigned,  he  disdained  to  ask 
preferment  and  waited  for  preferment  to  seek  for 
him.  We  have  had  many  brave  soldiers,  but  few 
of  whom  it  may  be  said,  as  we  are  proud  to  say 
of  Sherman,  '  There  are  no  tricks  in  plain  and 
simple  faith.' 

"  He  was  pre-eminently  a  fighter,  the  man  for 
the  time.  In  his  judgment  war  is  always  war, 
and  should  be  conducted  without  'dangerous 
lenity.'  With  every  fibre  he  believed  in  the 
righteousness  of  our  cause,  and  when  the  first 
rumblings  of  secession  were  heard  in  the 
Louisiana  sky,  he  wrote  to  Governor  Moore  : 
'  On  no  earthly  account  will  I  do  any  act  or  think 


208          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

any  thought  hostile  to  the  old  government  of  the 
United  States.' 

"  When  in  the  field,  therefore,  he  smote  with  all 
the  might  of  arm  and  conscience,  dreamed  of 
nothing  except  to  rout  the  enemy  at  any  cost  and 
if  possible  to  exterminate  him.  To  his  soldiers 
he  said  : — '  Put  your  shields  before  your  hearts 
and  fight  with  hearts  more  proof  than  shields.' 
He  never  followed,  was  always  at  the  front,  a 
hard  rider,  a.  hard  fighter,  not  reckless,  but  bold. 
His  army  loved  him  as  his  army  loved  Napoleon, 
but  the  Corsican  looked  with  '  soaring  insolence ' 
upon  a  throne  as  his  reward,  while  Sherman  re- 
fused everything  which  politics  would  have  gladly 
offered;  saying  with  Marcius  : — '  I  cannot  make  my 
heart  consent  to  take  a  bribe  to  pay  my  sword.' 

"  With  Sherman  we  lose  the  last  of  that  historic 
group  in  which  he  stood  by  the  side  of  Lincoln> 
Grant  and  Sheridan.  If  it  be  true  that  the  dead 
may  by  some  subtle  metempsychosis  become  the 
inspiration  of  the  living,  the  memory  of  these  four 
will  keep  the  fires  of  patriotism  alive  and  help  our 
children's  children  to  make  the.  future  of  the  Re- 
public as  glorious  as  its  past." 


HIS  CHARACTER.  209 

The  New  York  Ttim&rhas  the  following:  "Upon 
the  side  of  the  Union,  the  last  '  hero  of  the  civil 
war '  is  gone.  There  are  hundreds  of  men  left 
who  have  done  '  gallant  and  meritorious  service/ 
not  merely  in  the  ranks,  but  in  command  of  reg- 
iments and  brigades  and  divisions  and  army 
corps.  There  are  a  few  who  have  led  armies  and 
held  independent  commands.  But  of  the  con- 
spicuous commanders  whose  names  were  known 
a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  to  all  their  country- 
men ,  and  whose  faces  were  familiar  to  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  soldiers.  General  Sherman  was 
the  last.  By  common  consent,  ratified  by  the 
acts  of  Congress,  three  men  were  recognized  at 
the  close  of  the  war  as  pre-eminent  in  the  service 
they  had  rendered  in  making  the  war  for  the 
Union  successful — Grant  and  Sherman  and  Sheri- 
dan— and  these  three  men  succeeded  each  other 
after  the  war  was  over  in  the  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  United  States.  Of  these  three  men 
General  Sherman  was  the  oldest  man  and  the 
latest  survivor.  Those  who  witnessed  the  funeral 
of  Grant  will  never  forget  that  among  the  most 

touching   and   impressive   incidents   of    the  long 
14 


210          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

procession  was  the  appearance  in  one  carriage  of 
an  elderly  man  brilliant  with  the  uniform  and  in- 
signia of  the  rank  of  General,  and  of  another 
still  older  in  civilian's  dress.  The  soldier  in  uni- 
form was  General  Sherman  ;  the  soldier  who  no 
longer  had  the  right  to  wear  a  uniform  was  Gen- 
eral Johnston,  who,  thirteen  years  older  than  his 
companion  of  that  day,  and  his  antagonist  on 
many  well-fought  fields,  still  lives  to  enjoy  the 
affectionate  veneration  of  the  people  whom  he  led 
and  the  respect  of  the  people  against  whom  he 
fought.  But  with  the  death  of  General  Sherman 
the  last  of  the  towering  figures  of  the  war  disap- 
pears for  the  people  of  the  Northern  States.  It 
is  a  reminder  which  must  impress  the  dullest  mind 
that  the  civil  war  is  of  another  age  than  ours. 

"  Of  the  three  heroes  of  the  war  whom  we  have 
named,  General  Sherman  was  by  far  the  most 
picturesque  and  interesting  figure.  In  the 
minds  of  most  of  his  countrymen  he  was  almost 
more  identified  with  the  history  of  the  war  than 
Grant  himself,  because  he  was  identified  with 
nothing  else.  His  public  career  began  in  1861 
and  ended  in  1865  with  the  surrender  of  Johnston. 


HIS  CHARACTER.  211 

On  the  other  hand,  he  was  not,  like  General  Sher- 
idan, a  soldier  only,  but  a  very  active-minded  man, 
whose  curiosity  and  sympathy  expanded  in  all  di- 
rections and  toward  all  interests.       Nothing  hu- 
man was  foreign  to  him,  and  his  habit  of  speaking 
his  mind  upon  all   subjects  without  weighing  his 
words   and    without    the    least  regard  to  conse- 
quences  endeared  him   the  more  to  his  country- 
men by  affording  them  the  continual  spectacle  of 
a  great  man  who  was  also  intensely  human.      At 
the  beginning  of  the  war  he  incurred  for  a  time 
the  reputation   of   insanity  for  a  prediction  con- 
cerning the  extent  and  duration  of  the  struggle 
which,  as  the  event  proved,  showed  the  soundness 
and  shrewdness  of  his  mind.     By  nature  he  was 
not  especially  amenable  to  discipline.      If  his  im- 
mediate superior,  General  Grant,  had  not  enter- 
tained a  sincere  admiration  for  the  man  whom  he 
unaffectedly  regarded  as  his  intellectual  superior, 
though  his  military  subordinate,   it  is  likely  that 
the  relations    of    the    two   Generals   would  have 
been   so  strained  as  to  interfere  with  the  success 
of  their  joint  operations.       Happily  this  did  not 
occur,    but  General  Sherman   had   no    hesitation 


212          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

about  embroiling  himself  with  his  ultimate  super- 
ior, the  Secretary  of  War,  and  he  relieved  his 
mind  by  describing  Mr.  Stanton  as  a  '  clerk ' 
and  cutting  him  dead  when  they  met  upon  the  re- 
viewing stand  at  the  close  of  the  war.  For  a 
man  of  this  impulsive,  not  to  say  explosive,  na- 
ture it  was  especially  fortunate  that  he  did  not 
permit  himself  to  be  beguiled  by  civic  ambitions 
after  his  soldierly  work  was  done.  General 
Grant  often  lamented  that  he  had  not  remained 
at  the  head  of  the  army  instead  of  becoming  em- 
broiled in  the  thankless  struggles  of  politics, 
where  political  opposition  impaired  the  universal 
good-will  that  would  otherwise  have  been  his.  In 
nothing  was  the  good  sense  that  lay  at  the  base  of 
General  Sherman's  character,  in  spite  of  his 
superficial  eccentricities,  more  clearly  shown  than 
in  his  scornful  scouting  of  all  proposals  from  po- 
litical parties,  and  in  his  repeated  declaration  that 
he  would  not  accept  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States  if  it  were  offered  to  him  without  a 
struggle.  Even  in  such  a  contingency  he  would 
have  consulted  his  own  happiness  if  he  had  re- 
mained in  a  private  station,  where  he  could  speak 


HIS  CHARACTER.  213 

his  mind  freely  without  committing  anybody  but 
himself,  and  where  he  could  live  his  own  life  with- 
out molestation.  After  his  retirement  from  the 
army  and  since  he  took  up  his  residence  in  New 
York,  General  Sherman  has  been  a  very  familiar 
figure.  He  went  everywhere,  he  spoke  often  in 
public,  and,  as  he  said  nothing  that  was  not  worth 
listening  to,  people  heard  him  gladly.  The  peace- 
ful activity  of  his  last  years,  after  the  stormy 
scenes  of  his  prime,  made  his  a  happy  and 
enviable  old  age.  There  has  seldom  been  a 
happier  conjunction  of  temperament  and  fate. 
Now  that  he  has  gone  he  has  taken  with  him 
not  merely  the  honor  and  gratitude  of  his  coun- 
trymen for  great  and  patriotic  deeds,  but  a 
widespread  affection  and  regret  for  the  departure 
of  a  brave,  shrewd,  kindly  and  transparently 
honest  man." 

The  Philadelphia  Ledger  says :  "  Nearly  twenty- 
six  years  after  the  close  of  the  War  of  Secession 
death  has  removed  the  last  of  that  renowned 
group  of  soldiers — Meade,  Grant,  Sheridan  and 
Sherman — whose  magnificent  soldiership  was  so 
conspicuously  displayed  during  the  war  by  which 


214         LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

the  integrity  of  the  Union  was   assured,  rebellion 
crushed  and  slavery  abolished. 

"We  have  mentioned  the  names  of  these  illus- 
trious soldiers  in  the  order  of  their  death ;  the 
order  of  their  greatness  their  countrymen  long 
ago  determined.  General  Meade  followed  only 
after  Grant,  and  parallel  with  him  was  Sherman, 
not  only  in  the  brilliancy  of  tactical  skill,  but  in 
the  effective  results  of  execution.  Sherman's  ed- 
ucation was  unusually  liberal  and  comprehensive 
before  the  war  began.  He  was  graduated  from 
the  West  Point  Military  Academy  with  distinct- 
ion ;  he  served  in  the  army  with  credit  and  use- 
fulness, as  Second  and  as  First  Lieutenant  and  as 
Captain.  Subsequently  resigning  his  commission, 
he  became  a  banker  and  a  lawyer,  and  still  later 
on  a  Railroad  President  and  the  Superintendent 
of  the  Louisiana  State  Military  Institute — which 
latter  position  he  resigned  when  Louisiana  se- 
ceded from  the  Union,  in  a  letter  that  was  in  the 
highest  degree  creditable  to  his  honor  and  patri- 
otism. He  was  nearly  forty-one  years  old  when 
the  civil  war  began,  and  was  then  in  the  fullest 
vigor  of  physical  and  mental  health.  His  fine 


HIS  CHARACTER.  215 

intelligence,  his  diverse  education,  his  varied  asso- 
ciations and  intercourse  with  men  of  distinction 
in  different  walks  in  life,  had  peculiarly  fitted  him 
for  the  great  work  to  which  his  country  called  him 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

"  Like  Grant,  Meade  and  Sheridan,  General 
Sherman  had  not  only  military  genius ;  he  had 
the  highest  qualities  of  a  citizen  of  the  great  Re- 
public. He  entered  the  service  of  his  country  as 
one  who  was  as  willing,  if  need  be,  to  die  for  as  to 
fight  for  it.  He  gave  it  no  half-hearted,  halting 
service,  and  the  mighty  energy  he  so  continuously 
displayed  on  the  march  and  in  the  assault  was  as 
much  the  inspiration  of  his  loyal  heart  as  of  his 
alert  mind  and  vigorous  body. 

"The  story  of  his  achievements  is  one  of  the 
most  glorious  and  precious  records  of  his  country, 
and  most  conspicuous  in  it  is  that  chapter  of  it 
known  to  his  countrymen,  to  the  admirers  of  mili- 
tary genius  of  all  countries — the  march  through 
Georgia  from  the  Mountains  to  the  Sea.  It  was 
the  grandeur  of  this  great  movement,  the 
grandeur  of  its  courage  and  its  results,  which  will 
render  it  forever  remarkable.  No  soldier  of  ancient 


216         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

or  modern  history  more  completely  burned  his 
bridges  behind  him  than  did  Sherman  when  he 
marched  out  of  Atlanta  at  the  head  of  that  great 
Union  host,  the  objective  point  of  which  was  the 
Atlantic  ocean,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  cut 
through  the  Confederacy  in  its  most  vital  part, 
and  to  bring  its  chief  support,  the  army  of  Lee, 
between  two  fires,  that  of  Grant  and  Meade  and 
of  Sherman.  As  it  was  planned,  it  was  executed 
— without  a  single  failure  at  any  point.  All  that 
was  anticipated  from  it  was  realized,  and  the  doom 
of  the  Confederacy  was  sealed  that  day  when 
Sherman,  turning  his  back  upon  the  mountains, 
set  out  in  his  march  to  the  sea. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  form  any  just  estimate  of 
the  value  of  services  such  as  this  illustrious 
soldier  rendered  his  country  in  its  time  of  great- 
est need.  He  was  one  of  those  who  stood  as  an 
impregnable  fortress  against  the  destroying  plans 
of  its  enemies.  He  offered  to  the  Cause  of  Union 
and  Freedom  all  that  man  has  to  offer — intellect, 
strength,  and  even  that  for  which  all  things  else 
will  be  freely  sacrificed,  life.  General  Sherman's 
was  the  genius  of  both  planning  and  doing.  He 


HIS  CHARACTER.  217 

thought  and  he  wrought  with  magnificent 
courage  and  effective  skill  for  his, country,  and  his 
efforts  were  crowned  with  success.  In  the  sud- 
den making  of  splendid  names  his  name  became 
one  which  inspired  armies  with  confidence  and 
assured  the  soldierly  endeavor  which  achieved  tri- 
umphs. Such  men  are  so  truly  great  that  their 
countrymen  can  only  reverently  salute  them  and 
resolve  to  keep  their  deeds  in  grateful  remem- 
brance as  they  pass  from  the  world  which  was  bet- 
ter for  their  living  in  it. 

"A  patriotic  American,  a  wise,  brave,  skillful 
soldier,  a  sincere,  earnest,  friendly  man,  General 
Sherman  died  honored  and  beloved  by  number- 
less personal  friends  and  by  millions  of  his  coun- 
trymen. In  a  sense  broader  than  that  of  a  mili- 
tary genius,  General  Sherman  was  a  great  man. 
He  showed  in  his  war  correspondence  that  he  had 
the  learning  of  the  scholar  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
statesman — just  as  in  his  famous  and  admirable 
book  containing  the  Memoirs  of  his  Life  he  proved 
that  he  had  rare  gifts  as  an  autobiographical 
author.  Such  men  do  not  die ;  they  pass  on  from 
among  their  surviving  old  comrades  of  camp  and 


218         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

field  to  more  life,  to  a  fuller,  completer  one ;  to 
the  reward  of  men  entirely  good  and  great." 

FOREIGN    OFFICERS    EULOGIZE    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

General  Lord  Wolseley,  in  an  interview  to-day, 
said  of  General  Sherman:  "All  military  men  of 
every  country  join  the  people  of  the  United  States 
in  their  regret  at  General  Sherman's  death,  for 
the  loss  is  not  confined  to  America,  but  is  shared 
by  all  military  people."  When  asked  what  he 
thought  of  General  Sherman  as  a  military  com- 
mander, Lord  Wolseley  replied  that  it  was  a  diffi- 
cult matter  for  an  outsider  to  make  comparisons, 
but,  speaking  purely  from  a  military  point  of  view, 
he  undoubtedly  would  place  Sherman  at  the  head 
of  all  Northern  commanders.  As  a  strategist, 
Sherman  showed  great  power,  and  in  this  he  ex- 
celled all  others,  while  in  achievements  for  which 
he  was  most  famous,  notably  his  march  to  the  sea, 
he  displayed  the  dash,  combined  with  strategical 
skill,  that  at  once  proved  his  great  power.  In  an- 
swer to  a  question  Lord  Wolseley  said  that  he,  in 
common  with  other  European  commanders,  ranked 
Lee  as  first  of  the  commanders  on  either  side. 


HIS  CHARACTER.  219 

Major-General  Philip  Smith,  C.B.,  command- 
ing the  Home  District,  whose  opinion  may  be  said 
to  represent  the  entire  brigade  of  Guards,  says 
he  thinks  General  Sherman  was  the  finest  all- 
round  soldier  of  the  American  Civil  War. 

Colonel  Hugh  McCalmont,  C.B.,  who  has  seen 
service  in  India,  and  is  at  present  commanding  the 
Fourth  Royal  Irish  Dragoon  Guards,  Dublin,  said, 
with  great  feeling,  that,  in  his  judgment,  Grant 
would  not  have  been  able  to  break  down  the 
heroic  opposition  of  Lee  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  genius  of  Sherman,  whose  march  was  the 
grandest  thing  of  its  kind  in  history. 

Sir  Edward  Hamley,  K.C.B.,  is  regarded  as 
one  of  the  first  of  living  English  strategists,  his 
book  on  "The  Operations  of  War"  having  been 
translated  into  almost  all  languages.  He  said: 
"  General  Sherman  was  a  great  tactician.  I  have 
already  expressed  in  writing  my  opinion  that  his 
march  through  Georgia  was  deliberately  planned, 
and  for  boldness  of  conception  and  marvelous 
organization  it  has  scarcely  a  parallel  in  the  history 
of  war." 

Many  other  distinguished  British  officers  and 


220          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

ex-officers  spoke  in  highest  terms  of  the  military 
genius  of  General  Sherman. 

General  Vernois,  ex-Minister  of  War,  when 
asked  about  General  Sherman's  position  as  a 
commander,  said:  "Before  I  could  express  an 
opinion  which  would  even  do  justice  to  Sherman, 
I  should  wish  a  closer  study  of  the  rich  material 
in  his  military  career.  His  march  to  the  sea  was 
the  work  of  a  great  soldier." 

General  Taysen,  who  is  Chief  of  the  Historical 
Department  of  Germany's  General  Staff,  said: 
"Sherman  was  certainly  one  of  the  greatest  Gen- 
erals in  the  American  war.  He  was  remarkable 
for  his  clear  insight,  his  sharp  strategical  ideas, 
and,  above  all,  for  the  wonderful  activity  with 
which  he  carried  out  his  ideas.  His  celebrated 
flank  march  to  the  sea  astonished  the  world.  I 
especially  value  in  Sherman  his  genius  of  carry- 
ing out  with  strict  strategical  art  simple  ideas  with 
most  simple  means." 

General  Von  Estoroff,  chief  of  the  official 
paper  of  the  Prussian  Ministry  of  War,  said: 
"Sherman  is  regarded  in  the  military  circles  of 
Germany  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished  Gen- 


HIS  CHARACTER.  221 

erals  of  modern  times,  not  only  in  designing,  but 
in  carrying  out  most  daring  schemes." 

"  Gradually  all  the  leading  historic  personages 
on  both  sides  of  our  great  civil  war  are  disap- 
pearing from  the  ranks  of  the  living.  On  the 
Confederate  side  Generals  Johnston,  Longstreet, 
Early,  Gordon  and  Beauregard  are  the  last  of  the 
great  commanders.  On  the  Union  side  General 
Sherman  enjoyed  the  same  distinction.  His 
death,  following  so  closely  upon  that  of  Admiral 
Porter,  of  the  navy,  will  serve  to  recall  vividly  the 
stirring  events  in  which  they  both  figured  in 
defence  of  the  Union  cause.  The  republic  will 
at  the  same  time  honor  them  as  'heroes  of  the 
civil  war,'  and  as  citizens  of  the  highest  distinc- 
tion, entitled  to  grateful  memory.  The  -bitter- 
nesses of  the  late  struggle  have  been  replaced  at 
length  by  a  restored  Union,  where  the  dominant 
sentiment  or  aspiration  is  heartily  for  peace  and 
progress  under  liberal  government.  General 
Sherman  spent  the  later  years  of  his  life  in  peace- 
ful activity  amidst  the  surroundings  of  civil  life, 
which  he  adorned  by  the  graces  of  mind  and  con- 
versation. He  took  a  lively  interest  in  all  that 


222          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

was  going  on  in  the  world,  and  made  the  wisest 
use,  perhaps,  of  the  time  left  to  him  after  retire- 
ment in  making  himself  and  others  happy.  He 
would  not  sacrifice  the  peace  and  contentment  of 
these  surroundings  for  the  presidency,  or  to  listen 
to  the  tempting  offers  of  politicians  who  squght  to 
allure  him  into  the  whirlpool  of  politics.  He  was 
a  man  of  pronounced  convictions  and  straight- 
forward speech.  He  preferred  to  remain  in 
private  life,  where,  as  has  been  said  of  him,  'he  could 
speak  his  mind  freely  when  there  was  occasion  to 
do  so  without  committing  any  one  but  himself.'  ' 
— Baltimore  Sun. 

"When  all  is  said  that  can  be  said,  the  fact  looms 
up  that  this  man  was  one  of  the  greatest  soldiers 
of  the  age.  Perhaps  he  was  so  essentially  a 
soldier  that  we  run  the  risk  of  misjudging  him. 
He  knew  and  cared  nothing  about  politics  and 
diplomacy.  His  way  of  settling  a  difficulty  was 
to  cut  the  Gordian  knot  with  his  sword.  He  was 
a  hard  fighter,  and  never  grew  sentimental  in  the 
presence  of  bloodshed  and  death.  But  when  the 
business  of  war  was  over — when  he  had  accom- 
plished his  mission — he  showed  a  softer  side,  and 


HIS  CHARACTER.  223 

men  and  women,  even  among  his  former  foes, 
found  him  a  very  lovable  man." — Atlanta,  Ga., 
Constitution. 

A  GREAT  SOLDIER  S  CAREER. 

Rumble  and  grumble,  ye  drums, 

Shrill  be  your  throat,  O  pipes  ! 
With  blood-red  flag,  in  your  mourning  band. 

Serpent  of  harlequin  stripes  ! 

But — stars  in  the  banner's  blue  ! 

Smile,  for  the  war  chief  true 
Up  from  the  myriad  hearts  of  the  land 

Comes — to  your  haven  comes. 

Guns  that  sullenly  boom 

Mourn  for  the  master's  hand 
Dreadful,  uplifting  the  baton  of  war 

While  your  hurricane  shook  the  land! 

Marching,  marching,  battle  and  raid, 

Gay  and  garrulous,  unafraid, 
Sherman  drove  with  his  brilliant  star 

A  dragon  of  eld  to  its  doom. 

Pass,  O  shade  without  stain! 
Sunsets  that  grimly  smile 

Shall  paint  how  your  signal  flags  deploy 
Battalions,  mile  on  mile — 
Horseman  and  footman,  rank  on  rank, 
Sweeping  against  the  foeman's  flank, 

Howling  full  of  the  strange  mad  joy 
Of  slaughter  and  fear  to  be  slain ! 


224          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

Orators,  thunder  and  rave  ! 

Chant  ye  his  dirge,  O  bards  , 
Ho,  cunning  sculptors,  his  charger  design, 

Grave  ye  his  profile  on  sards  ! 

But  to  picture  the  hero's  brain 

Shall  ye  ever  thereto  attain  ? 
Can  ye  utter  the  soul  of  the  long  blue  line 

And  the  tongue-tied  love  of  the  slave  ? 

Rumble  and  grumble,  ye  drums, 
Strain  in  your  throat,  O  pipes  ! 
Last  of  the  warriors  of  oak  that  were  hew 
Into  strength  by  failure  and  stripes  ! 
Last,  not  least,  of  the  heroes  old, 
Smoke-begrimed,  fervid,  crafty,  bold — 

Sheridan,  Grant,  your  comrade  boon 
Comes — to  your  haven  comes  ! 

— CHARLES  DE  KAY. 
In  New  York  Times. 


General  Sherman's  faith  or  belief  in  religious 
matters  has  been  very  widely  discussed,  and  we 
give  in  full  an  article  from  the  North  American 
Review  on  Hon.  James  G.  Elaine: 

"As  time  passes  and  the  period  rapidly 
approaches  when  in  the  course  of  nature  my 
tongue  must  be  silent,  and  the  pen  drop  from  my 
fingers,  it  seems  but  right  that  I  should  record 


HIS  CHARACTER.  225 

some  of  the  thousand  and  one  reminiscences  of  a 
somewhat  eventful  career  which  may  concern 
others,  and  may  in  the  future  be  conducive  to  the 
good  of  my  fellow-mortals. 

"In  June,  1840, 1  graduated  at  the  U.  S.  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point,  and  in  common  with  my 
classmates  was  granted  a  three  months'  furlough 
to  repair  to  my  home  to  prepare  for  active  service 
with  my  regiment  in  Florida.  My  home  was 
then  in  the  family  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  at 
Lancaster,  Ohio.  This  family  was  large,  occupy- 
ing one  of  the  best  mansions  of  that  ancient 
village,  and  among  the  family  were  two  boys, 
'  cousins,'  of  about  eleven  years  of  age,  as  bright 
and  handsome  as  ever  were  two  thoroughbred 
colts  in  a  blue-grass  pasture  of  Kentucky. 

"  Being  myself  a  full-fledged  graduate  of  the 
National  Military  Academy,  and  a  commissioned 
officer  in  the  Third  U.  S.  Artillery  with  a  salary 
of  $65  a  month,  all  in  gold,  I  could  hardly  stoop  to 
notice  these  lads,  but  was  informed  that  they  were 
attending  the  select  school  of  Mr.  Lyons,  an 
English  gentleman,  a  classical  scholar,  uncle  to 
the  Lord  Lyons  who  long  represented  Great 
15 


226          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

Britain  at  Washington,  and  since  has  represented 
his  country  in  Paris  up  to  the  time  of  his  recent 
death.  This  teacher,  Mr.  Lyons,  being  a  younger 
brother  without  estate,  though  with  Oxford  edu- 
cation, like  many  thousands  of  strangers,  had 
come  to  America  for  a  maintenance,  working  out 
the  great  unseen  problem  of  life  which  often 
startles  us  with  its  results ;  for  I  honestly  believe 
that  the  bias  given  to  the  minds  of  Jim  Elaine  and 
Tom  Ewing,  Jr.,  at  Lancaster,  Ohio,  in  1840-1  by 
Mr.  Lyons,  has  furnished  us  two  of  our  brightest 
national  luminaries. 

"  Elaine's  history  from  that  time  forth  is  well 
known  to  all  who  seek  the  truth,  and  I  propose  to 
limit  myself  in  this  article  to  a  single  episode,  or 
it  may  be  to  two,  of  his  brilliant  career. 

"  In  1846-48  occurred  the  war  with  Mexico. 
General  Zachary  Taylor  commanded  our  troops, 
invading  Mexico  from  the  direction  of  Texas,  and 
General  Winfield  Scott  those  from  Vera  Cruz. 
Both  campaigns  were  eminently  successful,  and 
both  leaders  were  afterwards  sought  for  by  the 
politicians  of  their  day  as  Presidential  candidates. 
I  believe  the  military  world  will  accord  to  General 


HIS  CHARACTER.  227 

Scott  the  higher  war  honors  ;  but  General  Taylor 
had  been  equally  brave,  heroic  and  successful,  and 
moreover  possessed  those  personal  qualities  of 
patience,  subordination  and  honesty  which  always 
command  popular  applause.  Therefore,  although 
the  civilian  politicians  had  expected  to  profit  by 
the  Mexican  War,  the  American  people  chose  for 
their  President  in  November,  1849,  General  Zach- 
ary  Taylor. 

"At   the  time  of  his  election  he  was  a  major- 
general  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  which 
:ommission  he   resigned  January  31,  1849,  and 
ras  inaugurated  President,  March  4,  1849.     He 
ras  then  possessed  of  property  in  Kentucky,  and 
sugar  plantation,  with  slaves,  in  Louisiana. 
"  His  family  was  composed  of  his  son  Richard, 
/ho  for  a  time  was  with  his  father  in  Mexico  and 
it  Washington,  who  afterwards  settled  in  Louisi- 
,  and  went  off  to  the  Southern  Confederacy 
rith  the  stampede  of  1861 ;  a  daughter,  Mrs.  Ann 
Wood,  wife   of  the    eminent   army  surgeon, 
Lobert   C.  Wood,  and  Mrs.  Betty  Bliss,  wife  of 
[ajor  W.   W.  S.  Bliss,  then  universally  known 
md  respected  as  General  Taylor's  most  faithful 


228          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

military  adjutant  and  private  secretary.  At  that 
date,  1850,  Mrs.  Wood  was  with  her  husband  at 
Fort  McHenry,  Baltimore,  and  Mrs.  Bliss  did  the 
honors  of  the  White  House  in  Washington,  from 
March  4,  1849,  till  her  father's  death.  With  them 
all  I  had  a  more  or  less  intimate  acquaintance. 
Surgeon  Wood  attended  General  Taylor  in  his 
last  fatal  illness,  but  his  great  skill  and  kindness 
were  unavailing.  President  Taylor  died  July  9, 
1850,  and  his  family  afterwards  became  scattered. 
"  Long  years  passed,  the  '  Great  Conspiracy  of 
1861 '  was  hatched,  and  the  Civil  War  was  at  its 
crisis.  In  April,  1864,  I  found  myself  at  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee,  charged  with  a  heavy  load  of  re- 
sponsibility, but  I  had  plenty  of  good  men  to  help 
me,  among  them  this  same  surgeon,  Robert  C. 
Wood,  then  promoted  to  be  Assistant  Surgeon- 
General,  who  had  become  an  old  man,  with  a 
young  heart  and  a  big  soul.  He  was  posted  at 
Louisville  to  receive,  care  for  and  professionally 
treat  the  hundreds  and  thousands  of  poor  fellows 
doomed  to  drift  to  the  rear  in  the  mad  onslaught 
then  preparing.  He  met  his  responsibilities  like 
a  man,  and  his  letters,  which  I  preserve,  are  proof 


HIS  CHARACTER.  229 

to  me  that  this  world  is  not  as  bad  as  represented. 
I  went  on,  never  saw  him  again,  and  only  after- 
wards read  in  the  Gazette  that  Assistant  Surgeon- 
General  Robert  C.  Wood  died  March  28,  1869, 
having  served  his  country  faithfully  since  1825 — 
full  forty-four  years. 

"  In  the  year  1873  General  U.  S.  Grant  was  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States.  I  was  General-in- 
Chief  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  and 
James  G.  Blaine  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  All  were  resident  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.  I  was  seated  in  my  office  at  the  old 
War  Department,  now  destroyed  and  replaced  by 
a  better  one,  when  my  orderly  produced  the  card 
of  "Mrs.  Wood,"  widow  of  the  late  Assistant  Sur- 
geon-General, U.  S.  A.  Of  course  I  instructed 
him  to  show  the  lady  in.  She  was  deeply  veiled, 
then  not  uncommon,  by  reason  of  the  many  de- 
pendent widows  and  orphans  who  thronged  the 
national  capital  to  appeal  for  help.  She,  without 
unveiling,  handed  me  a  letter  in  the  familiar  hand- 
writing of  the  venerable  General  David  Hunter, 
asking  me  to  befriend  'the  bearer.'  Casting  my 
eyes  over  it,  I  exclaimed,  'What!  are  you  the 


230          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

widow  of  my  old  Surgeon-General  Wood,  and  the 
daughter  of  General  Zachary  Taylor  ?  '  '  Yes,'  she 
answered,  raised  her  veil  and  revealed  her  features, 
then  of  an  old  lady,  but  beyond  question  the  daugh- 
ter of  General  Zachary  Taylor.  '  Dear  Mrs.  Wood 
what  does  this  mean?  What  can  I  do  for  you?' 
She  replied,  "I  do  not  know,  but  General  Hunter, 
our  steadfast  friend,  has  sent  me  to  you,'  and  she 
went  on  to  explain :  'When  my  husband  died  in 
1869,  I  supposed  I  had  estate  enough  to  satisfy 
my  moderate  wants.  I  went  to  Louisiana,  took 
possession  of  the  old  sugar  plantation,  collected 
a  few  of  the  old  slaves  with  promises  of  wages 
or  shares,  tried  to  make  a  living,  but  everything 
was  out  of  joint.  I  then  tried  a  lease  with  no 
better  success.  Now  my  daughter  writes  me 
from  Austria  that  she  is  very  sick  and  begs  me 
to  come  to  her.  General  Sherman !  I  must  go 
to  my  daughter,  and  I  have  not  a  cent.  My 
old  friends  are  all  dead,  and  I  know  not  what 
to  do.'  I  naturally  inquired  how  much  money 
was  necessary?  She  said  a  thousand  dollars. 
I  had  not  the  money.  General  Hunter  had  not 
the  money.  How  about  your  pension?  'When 


HIS  CHARACTER.  231 

my  husband  died  after  forty-four  years  of  faith- 
ful service  in  the  Florida  War,  in  the  Mexican 
War  and  the  great  Civil  War,  I  thought  I  could 
take  care  of  myself  and  never  asked  for  a  pen- 
sion, but  now  my  child  calls  to  me  from  abroad.' 
'Mrs.  Wood,  I  am  sure  we  can  easily  make  up 
a  case  under  the  General  Pension  Law,  which 
will  give  you  $30  a  month,  but  it  can  only  date 
from  the  time  of  your  formal  application.' 
'  What  good  will  that  do  me  ?  '  she  exclaimed ; 
'my  daughter  is  calling  for  me  now!  My 
passage  across  the  ocean  will  cost  $120,  and 
the  incidental  expenses  afterwards  will  run  up 
to  a  full  thousand.'  After  a  few  moments' 
thought  I  said:  'Mrs.  Wood,  we  must  get  a 
special  bill,  putting  your  name  on  the  same  list 
with  that  of  Mrs.  General  Worth,  Mrs.  General 
Sumner  and  others,  and  have  this  special  pen- 
sion to  date  back  to  your  husband's  death,  viz.: 
March  28,  1869.  This  will  require  an  act  of 
Congress.  What  member  of  that  body  do  you 
know  from  Louisiana?'  'Alas,  none.'  'What 
member  from  Kentucky  ? '  '  Not  one.'  '  Do 
you  know  anybody  in  Congress  ? '  '  Not  a 


232         LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

single  member."  '  Don't  you  know  Mr.  Elaine  ? 
He  is  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  a  fellow  of  in- 
finite wit  and  unbounded  generosity.'  No,  she 
had  never  met  Mr.  Elaine.  '  Now,  my  dear  Mrs. 
Wood,  can  you  meet  me  this  afternoon  at  the 
Speaker's  Room,  say  at  4  p.  M.,  punctually?'  'I 
will  do  anything,'  she  answered,  'that  you  ad- 
vise.' 'Then  meet  me  at  the  Speaker's  Room, 
south  wing  of  the  Capitol,  at  4  o'clock  this  even- 
ing.' Of  course  she  did. 

"  I  was  there  ahead  of  time,  sent  my  card  to  Mr. 
Speaker  Elaine,  who  was  in  his  chair  presiding 
over  a  noisy  House,  but  who,  as  always,  respond- 
ed quickly  to  my  call.  In  a  few  words,  I  explained 
the  whole  case,  and  we  went  together  to  the 
Speaker's  Room  across  the  hall,  behind  the 
'Chair,'  where  sat  the  lady,  closely  veiled.  No 
courtier  since  the  days  of  Charlemagne  ever 
approached  a  lady  with  more  delicacy  and  grace 
than  did  Mr.  Speaker  Elaine  the  afflicted  widow  of 
Surgeon  Wood,  the  daughter  of  General  Zachary 
Taylor,  a  former  President  of  the  United  States. 
After  a  few  words  of  inquiry  and  explanation,  he 
turned  to  me,  and  said:  'Great  God!  has  it  come 


HIS  CHARACTER.  233 

to  this,  that  the  daughter  of  Zachary  Taylor,  and 
the  widow  of  a  faithful  army  surgeon  who  served 
his  country  and  mankind  all  his  life,  should  be 
here  knocking  at  the  doors  of  Congress  for  the 
pitiful  pension  of  fifty  dollars  a  month?'  I  could 
only  answer:  *Tis  true,  and  pity  'tis  'tis  true.' 
Turning  to  Mrs.  Wood,  Elaine  continued:  'Your 
father  was  the  first  man  I  ever  shouted  for  as 
President,  and  for  you,  his  daughter,  I  will  do  all 
a  man  can  in  this  complicated  government  I 
will  make  your  case  my  own.  Don't  leave  this 
city  till  you  hear  from  me.'  Finding  I  had  touched 
the  proper  chord  of  his  generous  nature,  I  advised 
Mrs.  Wood  to  return  to  General  Hunter's,  and 
await  the  result.  Elaine  escorted  her  to  the  stair- 
way with  many  friendly  expressions,  returned  to 
the  Speaker's  chair,  and  resumed  his  functions. 

"  I  did  not  remain,  but  learned  from  a  friend 
afterwards  the  sequel.  Elaine  sat  in  his  chair 
about  an  hour,  giving  attention  to  the  business  of 
the  House,  occasionally  scribbling  on  a  bit  of 
paper,  and  when  a  lull  occurred  he  called  some 
member  to  take  his  place  and  walked  straight  to 
Mr.  Holman,  the  'Universal  Objector,'  saying: 


234          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

"Holman,  I  have  a  little  matter  of  great  interest 
which  I  want  to  rush  through,  please  don't 
object.'"  'What  is  it?'  'A  special  pension  for 
the  widow  of  Surgeon  Wood,  the  daughter  of 
General  Zachary  Taylor.'  'Is  it  all  -right?'  'Of 
course  it  is  all  right,  and  every  American  should 
blush  that  this  thing  could  be.'  'Well/  said 
Holman,  'go  ahead;  I  will  be  out  of  the  way,  in 
the  cloak-room.'  Watching  his  opportunity, 
James  G.  Elaine,  as  a  Member  of  Congress  for 
Maine,  got  the  eye  and  ear  of  the  Acting  Speaker, 
made  one  of  his  most  eloquent  and  beautiful 
speeches,  introduced  his  little  bill  for  the  pension 
of  Mrs.  Wood  for  $50  a  month,  to  date  back  to 
the  time  of  Surgeon  Wood's  death  (about  four 
years),  which  would  give  her  about  $2,400  of 
arrears  and  $600  a  year  for  life.  It  was  rushed 
through  the  House  by  unanimous  consent,  and 
Elaine  followed  it  through  to  the  Senate  and  to 

O 

the  President,  where  it  became  law,  and  this  most 
deserving  lady  was  enabled  to  go  to  Austria  to  be 
with  her  daughter  in  her  illness.  I  understand  that 
both  are  now  dead,  and  that  the  overflowing  treas- 
ury of  the  United  States  is  no  longer  taxed  by  this 


HIS  CHARACTER.  235 

pension,  but  I  must  rescue  from  oblivion  the  mem- 
ory of  this  pure  act  of  unrecorded  benevolence. 

"Pensions  are  not  always  matters  of  legal  con- 
tract but  of  charity,  which  blesses  him  who  gives 
as  well  as  receives;  and  I  of  all  men  fully  recog- 
nize the  difficulty  of  making  pensions  subject  to 
the  tender  feelings  of  an  executive  officer;  but 
when  I  discover  an  instance  illustrating  the  gen- 
uine feeling,  no  one  should  object  to  my  record- 
ing it  and  printing  it  if  need  be. 

' "  There  is  another  phase  in  Mr.  Elaine's  charac- 
ter of  which  I,  and  I  alone,  can  testify.  The  press 
of  our  country  supposes  that  it  controls  public 
opinion  and  public  events.  Whereas  in  fact  pru- 
dent men  conceal  their  most  important  thoughts. 
During  the  Civil  War  the  Northern  press  was 
not  friendly  to  the  generals  who  succeeded,  but 
lavished  flattery  without  limit  on  the  '  failures ' 
and  on  our  distinguished  opponents^ 

"  Well  do  I  recall  General  McPherson's  excla- 
mation a  few  days  before  his  heroic  death  :  '  Sher- 
man, why  is  it  that  our  Ohio  papers,  especially 
those  of  Cincinnati,  continue  their  abuse  of  Grant, 
and  you,  and  me,  all  natives  of  Ohio,  who  surely 


236          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T,  SHERMAN. 

are  doing  our  very  best  ?  '  'I  could  only  answer 
that  I  did  not  know  except  that  it  was  easier  for 
the  editors  and  reporters  to  fight  battles  in  their 
safe  offices  in  the  North  than  among  the  rocks, 
ravines  and  rivers  of  the  South.  Yet  we  soldiers 
did  eventually  win  the  battle,  and  restored  the 
country  to  its  normal  condition  of  law  and  peace. 

"  In  peace,  also,  the  press  is  generally  hostile  to 
whomsoever  is  prominent  and  positive.  Let  any 
man  rise  above  the  common  level,  and  the  cry 
goes  forth,  crucify  him  !  crucify  him  ! — the  same 
old  story  !  Nevertheless,  I  honestly  believe  the 
people  of  the  United  States  to  be  a  thinking 
people  ;  that  the  press  chiefly  records  the  gossip 
of  the  day,  and  that  the  future  of  our  beloved 
land  is  safe  in  the  custody  of  its  good,  industrious 
citizens.]  To  be  sure  it  sometimes  requires  an 
earthquake  like  that  of  1861  to  arouse  them  to 
serious  thought. 

"  In  the  year  of  our  Lord  1884  there  was  to  be 
a  sharp  contest  for  the  nomination  in  Chicago 
for  a  presidential  candidate  of  the  Republican 
party.  The  press  and  people  generally  believed 
that  Elaine  wanted  it,  and  everybody  turned  to 


HIS  CHARACTER.  237 

him  as  the  man  best  qualified  to  execute  the  policy 
to  accomplish  the  result  aimed  at  Still,  abnegat- 
ing himself,  he  wrote  to  me  from  Washington 
this  letter: 

" '  Confidential,  strictly  and  absolutely  so. 

"  '  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  25,  1884. 
'* '  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  : 

c<  *  This  letter  requires  no  answer.  After  reading 
it  file  it  away  in  your  most  secret  drawer  or  give 
it  to  the  flames. 

" '  At  the  approaching  convention  at  Chicago  it 
is  more  than  possible,  it  is  indeed  not  improbable, 
that  you  may  be  nominated  for  the  Presidency. 
If  so  you  must  stand  your  hand,  accept  the  re- 
sponsibility and  assume  the  duties  of  the  place  to 
which  you  will  surely  be  chosen  if  a  candidate. 

"  '  You  must  not  look  upon  it  as  the  work  of  the 
politicians.  If  it  comes  to  you  it  will  come  as 
the  ground-swell  of  poplar  demand,  and  you 
can  no  more  refuse  than  you  could  have  refused 
to  obey  an  order  when  you  were  a  lieutenant  in 
the  army.  If  it  comes  to  you  at  all  it  will  come 
as  a  call  of  patriotism.  It  would  in  such  an 


238         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

event  injure  your  great  fame  as  much  to  decline 
it  as  it  would  for  you  to  seek  it.  Your  historic 
record,  full  as  it  is,  would  be  rendered  still  more 
glorious  by  such  an  administration  as  you  would 
be  able  to  give  the  country.  Do  not  say  a  word 
in  advance  of  the  convention,  no  matter  who 
may  ask  you.  You  are  with  your  friends,  who 
will  jealously  guard  your  honor  and  renown. 

"  'Your  friend,  JAMES  G.  ELAINE.' 

"  To  which  I  replied : 

"'912  GARRISON  AVENUE,  ST.  Louis,  Mo., 

'"May  28,  1884. 
" '  HON.  JAMES  G.  ELAINE,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

" '  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  :  I  have  received  your  letter 
of  the  25th,  shall  construe  it  as  absolutely  confi- 
dential, not  intimating  even  to  any  member  of  my 
family  that  I  have  heard  from  you,  and  though 
you  may  not  expect  an  answer  I  hope  you  will 
not  construe  one  as  unwarranted. 

" '  I  have  had  a  great  many  letters  from  all  points 
of  the  compass  to  a  similar  effect,  one  or  two  of 
which  I  have  answered  frankly,  but  the  great  mass 
are  unanswered. 


HIS  CHARACTER.  239 

"  '  I  ought  not  to  submit  myself  to  the  cheap 
ridicule  of  declining  what  is  not  offered,  but  it  is 
only  fair  to  the  many  really  able  men  who  right- 
fully aspire  to  the  high  honor  of  being  President 
of  the  United  States,  to  let  them  know  that  I  am 
not  and  must  not  be  construed  as  a  rival.  In 
every  man's  life  occurs  an  epoch  when  he  must 
choose  his  own  career  and  when  he  may  not 
throw  off  the  responsibility,  or  tamely  place  his 
destiny  in  the  hands  of  friends.  Mine  occurred 
in  Louisiana,  when,  in  1861,  alone  in  the  midst  of 
a  people  blinded  by  supposed  wrongs,  I  resolved 
to  stand  by  the  Union  as  long  as  a  fragment  of  it 
survived  on  which  to  cling.  Since  then,  through 
faction,  tempest,  war  and  peace,  my  career  has 
been  all  my  family  and  friends  could  ask.  We 
are  now  in  a  good  house  of  our  own  choice,  with 
reasonable  provisions  for  old  age,  surrounded  by 
kind  and  admiring  friends,  in  a  community  where 
Catholicism  is  held  in  respect  and  veneration,  and 
where  my  children  will  naturally  grow  up  in  con- 
tact with  an  industrious  and  frugal  people.  You 
have  known  and  appreciated  Mrs.  Sherman  from 
childhood,  have  also  known  each  and  all  the 


240          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

members  of  my  family,  and  can  understand 
without  an  explanation  from  me  how  their 
thoughts  should  and  feelings  and  ought  to  influ- 
ence my  action.  But  I  will  not  even  throw  off  on 
them  the  responsibility. 

"  '  I  will  not  in  any  event  entertain  or  accept  a 
nomination  as  a  candidate  for  President  by  the 
Chicago  Republican  Convention,  or  any  other 
convention,  for  reasons  personal  to  myself.  I 
claim  that  the  Civil  War,  in  which  I  simply  did  a 
man's  fair  share  of  work,  so  perfectly  accomplished 
peace  that  military  men  have  an  absolute  right  to 
rest,  and  to  demand  that  the  men  who  have 
been  schooled  in  the  arts  and  practice  of  peace 
shall  now  do  their  work  equally  well.  Any  Sena- 
tor can  step  from  his  chair  at  the  Capitol  into  the 
White  House  and  fulfill  the  office  of  President 
with  more  skill  and  success  than  a  Grant,  Sherman 
or  Sheridan,  who  were  soldiers  by  education  and 
nature,  who  filled  well  their  office  when  the 
country  was  in  danger,  but  were  not  schooled  in 
the  practice  by  which  civil  communities  are  and 
should  be  governed.  I  claim  that  our  experience 
since  1865  demonstrates  the  truth  of  this  my  prop- 


HIS  CHARACTER.  241 

osition.  Therefore  I  say  that  patriotism  does 
not  demand  of  me  what  I  construe  as  a  sac- 
rifice of  judgment,  of  inclination,  and  of  self- 
interest. 

"  '  I  have  my  personal  affairs  in  a  state  of  abso- 
lute safety  and  comfort.  I  owe  no  man  a  cent, 
have  no  expensive  habits,  envy  no  man  his 
wealth  or  power,  no  complications  or  indirect 
liabilities,  and  would  account  myself  a  fool,  a  mad- 
man, an  ass,  to  embark  anew  at  sixty-five  years 
of  age  in  a  career  that  may  become  at  any 
moment  tempest-tossed  by  perfidy,  the  defalca- 
tion, the  dishonesty  or  neglect  of  any  single 
one  of  a  hundred  thousand  subordinates  utterly 
unknown  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
not  to  say  the  eternal  worriment  by  a  vast  host 
of  impecunious  friends  and  old  military  subordi- 
nates. Even  as  it  is,  I  am  tortured  by  the  chari- 
table appeals  of  poor,  distressed  pensioners,  but 
as  President  these  would  be  multiplied  beyond 
human  endurance. 

"  'I  remember  well  the  experience  of  Generals 
Jackson,    Harrison,   Taylor,    Grant,    Hayes    and 
Garfield,  all  elected  because  of  their  military  serv- 
16 


242          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

ices,  and  am  warned,  not  encouraged,  by  their  sad 
experiences. 

"  'The  civilians  of  the  United  States  should  and 
must  buffet  with  this  thankless  office,  and  leave 
us  old  soldiers  to  enjoy  the  peace  we  fought  for, 
and  think  we  earned. 

" '  With  profound  respect, 

"  '  Your  friend,     W.  T.  SHERMAN.' 

"These  letters  prove  absolutely  that  Mr.  Elaine, 
though  qualified,  waived  to  me  personally  a  nom- 
ination which  the  world  still  believes  he  then 
coveted  for  himself. 

"  For  copies  of  these  letters  I  believe  I  have 
been  importuned  a  thousand  times,  but  as  a 
soldier  I  claim  the  privilege  of  unmasking  my 
batteries  when  I  please. 

"  In  looking  over  my  letter-book  of  that  period  I 
find  one  recorded  and  dated  two  weeks  before  the 
Elaine  letter,  which  is  to  me  more  satisfactory 
than  any  other,  and  therefore  I  embrace  it  in  this 
article,  which  I  want  to  be  complete  and  final  on 
this  subject  matter,  viz.: 


HIS  CHARACTER.  243 

"'912  HARRISON  AVENUE,  ST.  Louis,  Mo., 

"'May  1 6,  1884. 
" '  HON;  M.  C.  BUTT,  Virogna,  Wis. 

" '  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  infer  from  your  letter  of 
May  14,  just  received,  that  you  are  one  of  those 
soldiers  who  served  under  me  in  the  Rebellion, 
and  that  you  entertain  for  me  that  most  accepta- 
ble feeling  of  love  and  confidence  which  I  value 
more  than  gold  and  riches.  I  also  infer  that  you 
are  a  delegate  to  the  Republican  convention  to 
meet  at  Chicago  early  in  June,  to  select  out  of  the 
great  number  of  eminent  and  experienced  men  a 
candidate  for  President. 

" '  I  am  embarrassed  by  the  receipt  of  many 
private  letters  intimating  that  my  name  may  be 
presented,  and  that  as  an  American  officer  and 
citizen  I  have  no  right  to  decline.  It  is  simply 
exposing  myself  to  ridicule  to  answer  declining 
what  is  not  offered,  and  probably  never  will  be ; 
and,  as  a  rule,  such  letters  are  ignored ;  but  you 
are  a  Delegate,  and,  in  my  opinion,  have  a  higher 
title  in  being  a  member  of  that  Army  which  made 
our  Government  permanent  and  most  honored 


241          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

among  the    Nations  of  the  earth,  therefore    en- 
titled to  an  answer. 

" '  At  this  moment  of  time  no  danger  or  neces- 
sity exists  which  can  make  such  a  personal 
sacrifice  necessary  on  my  part.  My  brother, 
Senator  Sherman,  is  fully  advised  of  my  views,  so 
is  my  neighbor,  ex-Senator  Henderson,  who  will 
be  at  Chicago  as  a  delegate  from  Missouri,  and 
both  should  relieve  me  of  any  embarrassment, 
for  I  will  not  allow  the  use  of  my  name  as  a  can- 
didate. I  have  a  thousand  reasons,  any  one  of 
which  to  me  is  good  and  sufficient,  and  I  claim 
the  full  benefit  of  the  freedom  for  which  we 
fought  of  choosing  for  myself  my  own  course  of 
action  in  life.  I  do  not  want  my  old  comrades  to 
think  me  eccentric  or  unreasonable,  but  to  con- 
cede to  me  the  simple  privilege  of  living  out  my 
own  time  in  peace  and  comfort. 

"  '  This  letter  is  meant  for  yourself  alone  and  not 
for  the  public. 

"  '  With  great  respect, 

" '  Yours,  &c.,    W.  T.  SHERMAN.' 


HIS  CHARACTER.  246 

"  In  giving  to  the  North  American  Review  at 
this  late  day  these  letters,  which  thus  far  have 
remained  hidden  in  my  private  files,  I  commit  no 
breach  of  confidence,  and  to  put  at  rest  a  matter 
of  constant  inquiry  referred  to  in  my  letter  of 
May  28,  1884,  I  nere  record  that  my  immediate 
family  are  strongly  Catholic.  I  am  not  and  can- 
not be.  That  is  all  the  public  has  a  right  to 
know ;  nor  do  I  wish  to  be  construed  as  depart- 
ing from  a  resolve  made  forty  years  ago  never 
to  embark  in  politics.  The  brightest  and  best 
youth  of  our  land  have  been  drawn  into  that 
maelstrom,  and  their  wrecked  fortunes  strew  the 
beach  of  the  Ocean  of  Time.  My  memory  even 
in  its  short  time  brings  up  names  of  victims  by 
the  hundreds,  if  not  thousands. 

"  Still  American  citizens  should  take  an  interest 
in  public  events,  because  with  them  resides  the 
ultimate  power,  the  '  Sovereignty.'  We  have 
thrown  overboard  the  old  doctrine  of  the  Divine 
right  of  kings,  and  substituted  'The  will  of  the 
people,'  and  the  civilized  world  looks  toward 
America  for  a  solution  of  the  greatest  problem  of 
human  existence  and  happiness,  good  government; 


246         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

this  is  only  possible   by  watching  jealously  and 
closely  the  drift  of  public  events. 

"  Thus  far  as  a  nation  we  have  met  every  phase, 
colonial  and  national,  military  and  civil,  and  in 
my  judgment  the  people  of  the  United  States 
have  in  the  past  fifty  years  accomplished  larger 
physical  results  than  those  of  Asia  in  a  thousand 
years  or  of  Europe  in  five  hundred  years.  I  am 
equally  convinced  that  our  people  in  every  sec- 
tion are  more  intelligent,  more  temperate,  and 
enjoy  more  of  the  comforts  of  life  than  did  our 
immediate  ancestors.  So  that  we  are  well  war- 
ranted in  allowing  the  drift  of  public  events  to 
continue  as  now,  as  little  disturbed  by  artificial 
obstructions  as  possible.  '  Tis  true  that  '  eternal 
vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty,'  and  citizens 
should  and  must  watch  the  conduct  of  their  chosen 
agents.  Acts  are  substantial,  words  and  profes- 
sions are  only  idle  wind ;  none  but  men  who  have 
done  \vz\\  should  be  chosen  to  office.  The  worst 
men  always  promise  most — and  of  all  things  the 
Nation  should  not  be  represented  abroad  by  men 
who  labored  to  destroy  the  Government.  Again,  the 
incident  recently  reported  as  having  occurred  at 


HIS  CHARACTER.  247 

Richmond,  Virginia,  of  displaying  the  Rebel  flag 
in  a  procession  to  which  Union  men  were  invited, 
among  them  the  venerable  Andrew  G.  Curtin,  of 
Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  famous  war  governors, 
who  to  my  personal  knowedge  has  gone  to  the 
extreme  limit  of  possibility  to  create  a  perfect 
reconciliation,  was  calculated  to  arouse  feelings 
which  it  were  wiser  to  allow  to  die  out.  We 
now  have  a  common  country,  a  common  destiny, 
and  but  a  single  national  flag. 

"  I  was  glad  to  receive  from  high  authority  the 
assurance  that  the  affair  had  been  greatly  exag- 
gerated. Still  it  is  well  to  emphasize  the  fact  that 
the  Rebel  flag  went  down  Jorever  at  Appomattox, 
and  cannot  be  resurrected  without  protest,  if  not 
actual  bloodshed.  W.  T.  SHERMAN." 

In  this  connection  a  letter  written  by  General 
Sherman's  son,  Rev.  T.  E.  Sherman,  will  be  read 
with  special  interest.  Mr.  Sherman  wrote  as 

follows : 

"912  GARRISON  AVENUE, 

"  ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  June  i,  1878 
"  The  Hon.  Samuel  Reber. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR:     I  sail  on  Wednesday,  the  5th 


248  LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

inst,  from  New  York  to  Liverpool  by  the  steamer 
Scythia  of  the  Cunard  Line,  and  as  the  purpose  of 
my  voyage  has  relation  to  the  whole  future  course 
of  my  life,  I  desire   that  you,  as  a  friend  and  kins- 
man of  the  family,  should  know  definitely    and 
explicitly  what  that  purpose  is.     You  are  aware, 
my  dear  Sir,  that  I  graduated  a  few  weeks  ago  at 
the  Law  School  of  the  Washington  University  in 
this  city.     You  know,    too,    that    my    father   has 
given  me  a  complete  education  for  the  bar,  having 
sent  me    to   Georgetown    College    to    make   my 
classics   and   mathematics,   then  to  the    Scientific 
School  at  Yale  for  a  foundation  in  natural  sciences 
and  modern  languages,  and  finally  to  our  St.  Louis 
Law  School,  where  I  have  attended  the  full  course 
of  lectures  during  the  past  two  years   under  the 
kind  instruction  of  yourself  and  our  other  learned 
professors. 

"  For  some  time  past  I  have  had  a  strong  leaning 
for  the  ministry,  and  so  having  now  reached 
the  age  when  every  man  has  to  choose  his  own 
career  in  life,  and  having  weighed  this  important 
matter  of  a  choice  with  all  the  care  and  deliber- 
ation of  which  I  am  capable  I  have  decided  to 


HIS  CHARACTER.  249 

become  a  Catholic  priest.  How  long  ago  I 
reached  this  decision,  what  means  I  have  taken  to 
test  and  confirm  myself  in  my  resolution,  and  why, 
having  finally  decided,  I  now  choose  to  go  to  Eng- 
land to  make  part  of  my  preparation  for  the 
priesthood,  are  inquiries  which  are  of  no  interest  to 
any  one  but  myself,  and  to  answer  them  would  be 
apart  from  the  object  of  this  letter. 

"I  write  to  inform  you,  and  beg  you  to  communi- 
cate the  information  to  those  who  may  inquire 
concerning  me,  that  I  assume  to  myself  the  whole 
responsibility  of  my  choice.  As  with  me  alone 
rested  the  duty  and  the  burden  of  choosing 
a  path  in  life,  so  with  me  alone  rests  the  blame 
or  praise  of  having  chosen  the  Church  instead 
of  law. 

"  My  father,  as  you  know,  is  not  a  Catholic,  and 
therefore  the  step  I  am  taking  seems  as  startling 
and  as  strange  to  him  as,  I  have  no  doubt,  it  does 
to  you,  my  dear  Sir.  I  go  without  his  approval, 
sanction,  or  consent ;  in  fact,  in  direct  opposition 
to  his  best  wishes  in  my  behalf.  For  he  had 
formed  other  plans  for  me,  which  are  now  defeat- 
ed, and  had  other  hopes  and  expectations  in  my 


250          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T  SHERMAN. 

regard,    which   are     necessarily    dashed    to    the 
ground. 

"In  conclusion,  my  dear  Sir,  I  have  one  request  to 
make,  and  I  make  it  not  only  to  you,  but  to  all  our 
friends  and  relations  to  whom  you  may  see  fit  to 
show  this  letter  or  communicate  its  contents ;  it  is 
this: 

"Feeling  painfully  aware  that  I  haveVrieved  and 
disappointed  my  father,  I  beg  my  friends  and  his, 
one  and  all,  of  whatever  religion  they  may  be,  to 
spare  him  inquiries  or  comments  of  any  sort,  for 
I  cannot  help  feeling  that  anything  of  the  kind 
would  be  ill-timed  and  inappropriate. 

"Trusting  to  your  delicacy  and  to  theirs  to 
appreciate  my  motive  in  this,  and  to  comply  with- 
a  request  so  easily  fulfilled,  I  remain  with  great 
respect  affectionately  and  sincerely  yours," 

THOMAS  EWING  SHERMAN. 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES. 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES. 


BY  HORATIO  G.  KING. 

REGARD  it  as  one  of  the  greatest  privi- 
leges of  my  life  that  I  have  been  favored  with 
the  close  friendship  of  General  Sherman.  He  was 
the  most  interesting  conversationalist  I  have  ever 
met  and  his  fund  of  reminiscences  was  seemingly 
inexhaustible.  Of  course  I  have  met  him  at  many 
army  reunions,  and  one  of  my  annual  duties  as 
secretary  of  the  society  of  the  Army  of  Potomac 
was  to  secure  his  attendance  at  its  reunion.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  first  address  he  made  at  one 
of  our  meetings,  held  in  Philadelphia  on  June  6 
of  the  centennial  year.  He  made  quite  a  lengthy 
and  patriotic  off-hand  address,  in  which  he  coun- 
seled tenderness  toward  the  South.  '  Let  us,'  he 
said,  *  forgive  and  forget — provided  they  will  do  the 

same.'     At  that  time  there  was  considerable  real 

263 


254          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

or  feigned  apprehension  among  politicians  that 
the  South  might  try  conclusions  in  another  war. 
Of  this  he  said :  '  We  cherish  only  feelings  of 
chanty,  of  kindness,  of  forgiveness  toward  the 
people  of  the  South.  We  are  ready  to  forgive 
and  forget  if  they  will  do  the  same.  But  if  they 
will  not  (pointing  to  the  muskets  and  cannon  on 
the  stage),  boys,  there's  the  things!'  The  effect 
was  electric,  'and  I  am  sure  it  was  at  least  five 
minutes  before  the  applause  and  enthusiasm 
abated.  Then  he  added,  '  I  see  you  understand 
your  business.  But  I  am  out  of  practice  now,  and 
I  am  going  to  be  a  peaceable  man  from  this  time 
on.'  At  the  banquet  he  responded  to  the  toast  to 
the  regular  army  and  made  an  earnest  appeal  in 
its  behalf,  strongly  criticising  the  parsimony  of  the 
government  toward  its  small  force,  which,  by  the 
way,  at  that  very  time  was  occupied  in  an  Indian 
war. 

"  General  Sherman  has  felt  of  late  years  that 
his  strength  was  being  too  strongly  taxed  by  the 
incessant  social  demands  upon  him,  He  never 
could  refuse  his  old  Western  associates,  but  I  had 
some  difficulty  to  persuade  him  that  he  had  as 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  255 

many  friends  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  that 
he  really  belonged  not  to  a  section  of  the  grand 
army,  but  the  whole  army.     But  he  almost  always 
acceded  to  my  request,  but  at  Saratoga  Springs  in 
1887  he  gave  me  a  most  laughable  scoring  for  my 
persistence.     I   cannot  do  better   than   give  the 
entire  extract  from  his  speech  at  the  banquet.  He 
said :     '  By  the  law  of  our  land,  which  is  the  only 
king  we  worship,  I  was  turned  out  to  grass  and  I 
was  told  that  I  could  spend  the  rest  of  my  days  in 
peace  and   retirement      I  sought  refuge   in   the 
city  of  St.  Louis,  where  I  have  many,  many  friends 
and  which  city  I  love  very  much.     I  found  but 
little   peace   there.     But   I    read,  I  think  in    Dr. 
Johnson,  that  peace  and  quiet  could  only  be  had 
in  a  great  city  or  in  the  forest — in  nature's  wilder- 
ness.    I  therefore  sought  it  in  New  York  City.  I 
then  read  in  "  Wilhelm  Meister,"  by  Goethe,  by 
whom  is  the  beautiful  poem,  "Mignon,"  that  on  the 
heights  lies  repose.     I  have  chosen  Cceur  de  Leon 
lake,  in   Idaho;  and  you  don't  know  where  it  is. 
But  a  friend    here,  your    secretary,   Horatio    C. 
King,    initiates   a  new   doctrine,  that  because   I 
happen  to  be  a  survivor,  I  suppose  of  the  fittest,  I 


256          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

must  fulfill  all  the  offices  of  all  my  dead  comrades : 
therefore  I  must  come  to  the  reunion  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac ;  I  must  go  to  West  Point ;  I  must 
go  to  Chicago;  I  must  go  to  Detroit;  I  must  go 
wherever  an  army  band  meets,  because  I  am  the 
only  survivor.  Where  comes  the  peace?  My 
friends,  I  come  with  a  full  heart,  God  knows.  I 
love  you  all  because  you  fought  for  the  common 
flag.  Some  years  ago  there  was  a  little  captain  in 
the  army  called  Bonneville.  He  got  peace  and 
quiet.  He  asked  for  two  years'  leave  of  absence 
and  got  it,  and  he  went  out  to  the  mountains  where 
Salt  Lake  now  is.  Nobody  knew  where  it  was 
then.  That  was  about  fifty  years  ago.  Bonne- 
ville was  a  little  fellow.  God  knows  when  he  was 
born  ;  I  don't.  It  was  before  the  age  of  man.  He 
was  an  aide  de  camp  with  Lafayette  in  1824.  He 
went  off  and  caught  beavers  and  otter,  and  fished, 
and  the  crows  came  and  cleaned  him  out,  and  he 
kept  out  of  the  way  for  two  years  more.  He  was 
reported  dead.  He  went  to  the  adjutant-general 
and  reported,  but  the  adjutant  says,  "  Bonneville 
is  dead."  He  says,  "  I  am  not  dead.'  "  Oh,  yes," 
said  the  adjutant,  "you  are  dead ;  you  are  as  dead 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  257 

as  a  mackerel.  Go  away  from  here  and  don't 
disturb  the  record."  Bonneville  insisted  that  he 
was  not  dead  and  he  insisted  upon  going  back 
on  the  army  register  so  that  he  could  get  his  pay. 
I  fell  in  with  Washington  Irving,  one  of  the  sweet- 
est men  that  ever  lived  and  one  of  your  citizens. 

"  He  painted  the  tale  of  Bonneville  so  that  his 
name  will  pass  down  to  history.  God  bless  him 
and  his  memory — Washington  Irving.  Now,  I 
want  your  secretary,  Mr.  Horatio  C.  King,  just  to 
mark  me  dead  and  I  won't  turn  up.  I  won't 
bother  him  as  my  old  friend  Bonneville  disturbed 
Jones.  Let  me  alone  and  I  will  have  some  peace 
the  rest  of  my  days.' 

"  On  the  morning  before  the  banquet  and  after 
the  splendid  address  by  Chauncey  M.  Depew, 
Sherman  v/as  first  called  out  and  was  equally 
happy.  He  said  in  his  usual  easy  and  witty  style : 
'  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  has  a  great  deal  of 
assurance.  We  bummers  of  the  West  sometimes 
questioned  some  of  their  great  claims.  I  never 
have  and  never  will.  I  admire  the  tenacity,  the 
courage  and  perseverance  and  magnificent  hero- 
ism of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  but  I  certainly 

17 


258          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

claim  some  share  of  credit  for  us  of  the  West, 
who  began  at  the  beginning  and  came  over  thir- 
teen hundred  miles  to  help  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac, and  they  ought  to  be  somewhat  grateful 
to  us  for  that.  I  have  been  very  much  interested 
to-night,  chiefly  because  I  can  see  in  this  audi- 
ence, magnificent  in  its  appearance,  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  young  and  old,  who  have  come  here 
to  do  honor  to  the  old  soldiers  who  are  passing 
away  and  whom  you  can  almost  count  by  tens. 
They  remain  now  on  earth  simply  as  specimens 
of  what  once  existed,  types  of  a  great  army,  of 
the  grand  old  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Our  West- 
ern army  is  equally  thinning  out.  The  best  are 
gone.  God  calls  those  first  whom  He  loves  most, 
and  a  few  old  sticks,  of  which  I  am  one,  remain 
and  God  only  knows  why.  I  suppose  to  be  both- 
ered by  such  people  as  you,  who  call  upon  me  for 
a  speech.  I  was  told  if  I  would  come  up  here  I 
should  not  be  called  upon,  but  that  to-morrow 
night  I  might  have  to  respond  to  the  toast  of  our 
sister  societies.  In  the  West  we  used  to  call  them 
brothers,  but  these  Potomac  people  have  their  own 
language.  I  saw  few  sisters  during  the  war,  but 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  259 

I  saw  a  great  many  very  good  brothers — strong, 
stalwart  fellows,  men  who  went  up  the  Tennes- 
see river  with  the  intent  to  overcome  all  diffi- 
culties. 

"In  concluding  he  had  something  to  say  about 
the  anarchists  who  were  just  then  disturbing  the 
peace  of  Chicago  and  it  is  worth  quoting  here: 
'And  now  that  the  war  is  over,'  he  said,  'we  ought 
to  thank  God  that  we  live  in  a  country  where  free- 
dom is  universal  and  where  each  and  every  man 
who  behaves  himself  and  deserves  it,  can  enjoy 
all  that  God  gives  him.  As  to  these  red  Republi- 
cans, or  whatever  they  call  themselves,  though  I 
am  past  fighting  age,  I  am  not  afraid  of  the  red 
flag;  and  as  we  are  in  Saratoga,  this  historic 
ground  beneath  the  shadow  of  Mount  McGregor, 
and  with  such  an  audience  before  me,  I  see  token 
that  we  need  not  fear  these  anarchists.  I  would 
turn  them  over  to  the  guard-house  in  charge  of  a 
corporal's  guard,  and  if  that  would  not  settle  it  I 
would  hang  them  and  have  done  with  it.  But  I 
assure  you,  good  friends,  that  wherever  I  go,  from 
here  to  Oregon,  to  places  you  never  hear  of,  I  find 
an  audience — I  will  not  say  as  intelligent  as  this, 


260         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

but  a  very  respectable  audience.  They  love 
peace,  they  love  order,  system,  good  government, 
and  they  are  going  to  have  it,  they  will  have  it; 
and  if  any  disturbing  element  comes  in  from 
abroad  or  within,  we  will  squelch  it  quicker  than 
we  did  the  civil  war.' 

"His  last  appearance  at  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac re-unions  was  in  Portland  in  July  last,  and 
I  never  saw  him  in  better  spirits.  I  had  really  ex- 
ecuted a  flank  movement  upon  him,  for  I  had  half 
promised  him  if  he  would  go  to  the  Saratoga  re- 
union, I  wouldn't  urge  him  again.  So  I  had 
quietly  run  on  to  Portland,  explained  the  situation 
to  Major  Melcher  and  told  them  if  they  wanted  to 
secure  Sherman's  presence  the  best  way  was  to 
make  him  the  guest  of  the  city.  This  the  com- 
mon council  immediately  did.  The  very  day  the 
resolution  passed  that  body  I  met  the  General  at 
the  meeting  of  the  Loyal  Legion  at  Delmonico's. 
His  first  greeting  to  me  was  'King,  I'm  not  going; 
it's  no  use,  I  can't  go.  I  am  getting  worn  out.'  I 
laughingly  replied,  'Well,  general,  I  promised  you 
that  I  wouldn't  ask  you  again,  and  I  have  kept  it. 
But  how  in  the  world  are  you  going  to  refuse  the 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  261 

unanimous  request  of  35,000  people?'  Well,  he 
went,  and  everything  was  provided  for  his  comfort 
and  convenience.  He  had  a  room  near  to  mine, 
and  I  had  some  glorious  hours  in  private  chat  with 
him  that  I  can  never  forget,  but  the  details  of  the 
conversation  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  fully  recall.  He 
was  interesting  on  any  subject  and  you  may  be 
sure  that  I  had  sense  enough  not  to  do  much  of 
the  talking.  Of  course  he  was  the  central  figure, 
and  at  the  great  meeting  in  the  City  Hall  was 
called  up  as  soon  as  General  F.  A.  Walker  had 
concluded  his  oration,  which  was  a  masterly 
recital  of  the  grand  review  at  Washington  at  the 
close  of  the  war.  Naturally,  as  Walker  was  ad- 
dressing the  Army  of  the  Potomac  he  confined  his 
description  to  the  review  of  that  army  with  which 
he  was  connected.  Sherman  noted  the  omission 
of  any  reference  to  the  review  of  the  second  day, 
and  touched  upon  it  in  his  customary  mixture  of 
fun  and  criticism.  He  said,  'Now,  my  friends,  I 
have  had  a  great  deal  of  experience  in  my  life, 
and  I  have  learned  since  I  have  been  upon  this 
stage,  the  grand  review  in  Washington  terminated 
when  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  passed.  It  re- 


262         LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM,   T.  SHERMAN. 

minds  me  of  a  story  which  General  Taylor  is  said 
to  have  told  once  to  an  applicant  in  Washington 
who  urged  his  claims  on  the  ground  of  having 
been  a  hero  of  the  first  water  at  the  battle  of 
Buena  Vista.  General  Taylor  said  that  he  had 
heard  of  so  many  things  that  had  occurred  there, 
while  he  thought  he  was  there  himself,  he  had 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was  not  there  at 
all.  I  have  heard  so  much  of  that  review  that  I 
think  I  was  there,  and  I  think  that  review  occupied 
two  full  days.  The  first  day  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  had  the  floor,  and  I  was  upon  the  stage 
at  the  time,  as  I  am  now,  taking  notes  and  obser- 
vations that  I  might  profit  by  them,  for,  if  you  re- 
member, my  young  friends,  and  old  friends  too, 
the  Army  of  the  West  did  not  have  a  very  fair 
standing  in  your  eyes  for  discipline  and  order. 
You  got  your  opinion  of  us  from  rebel  soldiers, 
and  we  chased  them  eighteen  hundred  miles  into 
your  camp.  And  we  found  that  even  the  author- 
ities in  Washington  had  not  a  very  good  opinion 
of  our  armies.  They  thought  we  were  rather  lia- 
ble to  disorder.  Now,  I  assure  you,  my  friends, 
we  were  a  better  drilled  army  than  you  were.  I 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  263 

ought  to  know,  for  I  was  their  commanding  gen- 
eral. Let  me  give  you  a  little  piece  of  history 
which  I  have  only  given  to  my  personal  friends. 
I  was  on  that  stand  before  Meade  was  and  even 
before  President  Johnson  and  his  Cabinet.  Meade 
first  came  with  his  staff,  as  you  have  heard  very 
well  described,  and  as  he  wheeled  into  the  White 
House  grounds,  up  came  Custer,  and  some  lady 
flung  a  circular  wreath  to  him,  and  in  trying  to 
secure  it  his  horse  went  off  like  a  shot  and  Cus- 
ter was  not  reviewed  at  all,  and  his  division  of 
cavalry,  by  the  way,  would  not  have  passed 
muster  on  the  Champ  de  Mars,  in  Paris.  The 
horses  were  good,  the  men  sublime,  but  they 
were  not  good  looking  to  review.  Now,  the 
intervals  between  divisions  were  too  large  and  I 
kept  my  eye  on  them  and  watched  them  all  the 
while.  But  the  worst  mistake  was  that  your 
Army  of  the  Potomac  men  had  two  bands  right 
opposite  our  reviewing  stand,  loaned  you  by 
the  stay  at  homes  in  Washington.  They  were 
those  pampered  and  well-fed  bands  that  are 
taught  to  play  the  very  latest  operas.  Your  men 
did  not  understand  it  and  did  not  keep  step. 


264          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

Now,  to  keep  step  and  dress  right  and  keep  the 
eyes  to  the  front  is  the  first  duty  of  a  soldier.  A 
great  many  of  your  men  turned  their  eyes  around 
like  country  gawks  to  look  at  the  big  people  on 
the  stand.  Those  are  little  things.  You  know 
there  are  tricks  in  in  every  trade,  my  friends, 
tricks  in  war  as  well  as  in  peace.  While  I  was 
on  the  stand  Meade  came  to  me  and  I  said, 
"Meade,  I'm  afraid  my  poor  tatterdemalion  corps 
will  make  a  poor  appearance  to-morrow  when 
contrasted  with  yours."  Meade  said,  "Sherman, 
the  people  in  Washington  are  now  so  well  dis- 
posed to  the  army  they  will  make  all  allowances, 
you  needn't  be  afraid."  That  evening  I  got  a 
ncte  from  General  Auger,  saying  that  if  I  wanted 
those  two  magnificent  bands  I  could  have  them. 
I  said,  "Thank  you,  but  I  will  stick  to  my  old 
bands,"  and  I  sent  word  to  my  men,  "Be  careful 
about  your  intervals  and  your  tactics.  Don't  let 
your  men  be  looking  back  over  their  shoulders. 
I  will  give  you  plenty  of  time  to  go  to  the  capitol 
and  see  everything  afterward,  but  let  them  keep 
their  eyes  fifteen  feet  to  the  front  and  march  by 
in  the  old  customary  way."  And  they  did  so. 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES,  265 

When  the  review  was  over  the  two  constituted  a 
thing  of  magnificent  proportions.  As  to  the  pa- 
triotism within  our  hearts,  and  the  principles  that 
moved  those  great  masses  of  men  to  a  common 
purpose,  we  need  not  speak,  for  history  has  done  so, 
and  the  most  eloquent  tongues  in  the  country 
have  spoken  of  it,  and  nothing  more  can  be  said 
on  that  point.  But  on  the  simple  question  of  tac- 
tics, instruction  and  discipline,  we  can  take  lessons 
to  the  very  last  days  of  our  life.' 

"  His  comparison  of  Portland,  Ore.,  with  the 
Portland  in  which  he  then  spoke  also  called  out  a 
good  deal  of  good-natured  comment.  Sherman 
was  tremendously  loyal  to  the  West  and  far  West, 
though  his  great  heart  took  in  the  whole  country, 
which  he  loved  with  the  highest  patriotic  fervor 
and  devotion.  His  last  public  appearance  at  a 
soldiers' gathering  in  Brooklyn  was  at  the  presen- 
tation by  Lafayette  Post  of  flags  to  the  Packer  and 
Polytechnic  Institutes.  It  was  a  glorious  scene  and 
he  made  one  of  his  effective,  patriotic  addresses 
to  the  great  audience,  which  included  several 
hundred  of  the  pupils  of  these  schools.  Major 
D.  F.  Wright  and  myself  accompanied  him  home, 


266          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

and  in  the  long  ride  to-  Seventy-first  street  he  kept 
up  a  continued  fire  of  reminiscences  of  the  early 
days  of  California  and  also  of  the  rebellion.  He 
is  the  last  of  the  great  triumvirate  of  generals — 
Grant,  Sherman  and  Sheridan — for  in  that  order 
they  will  always  be  named,  yet,  to  my  thinking, 
Sherman  possessed  the  highest  military  genius, 
and  as  a  strategist  had  not  his  equal  in  the  war 
of  the  rebellion." 

General  Sherman  was  of  all  things  a  great  lover 
and  stickler  for  truth,  and  he  had  no  use  for  a  liar. 
As  characteristic  of  this  I  will  mention  an  incident 
of  a  conversation  with  him  onlyafew  months  ago. 
I  called  upon  him  with  Col.  John  Hamilton  to  invite 
and  persuade  him  to  attend  the  exercises  at  the 
Brooklyn  Academy  of  Music  on  the  occasion  of 
the  presentation  of  flags  by  the  Lafayette  Post  to 
the  pupils  of  the  Packer  and  Polytechnic  Institutes. 
He  spoke  of  the  incessant  demands  made  upon 
him,  especially  in  a  social  way,  and  he  felt  that  he 
must  resist  them  or  his  health  would  give  way. 
"  I  don't  like  the  idea,"  he  continued,  "  but  I  sup- 
pose I'll  have  to  do  as  others  do.  There  are 

and and (naming  several  prominent  din- 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  267 

ers  out)  ;  they  tell  me  that  they  constantly  accept 
invitations  and  make  engagements  they  do  not 
mean  to  keep.  But  I  am  afraid  I  can't  do  it.  I 
never  voluntarily  broke  an  engagement  in  my  life." 

BROKE   NO   ENGA  CEMENTS. 

Although  he  had  a  severe  cold,  which  would 
have  justified  his  remaining^!  home,  he  neverthe- 
less came  to  Brooklyn,  and  made  a  patriotic 
address  to  those  young  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and 
the  great  audience  which  packed  the  house,  which 
they  will  never  forget.  His  theme  was  the 
American  flag.  I  recall  especially  one  ex- 
pression which  he  subsequently  told  me  was 
entirely  unpremeditated.  He  was  speaking  of  the 
Confederate  flag — the  "  Stars  and  Bars" — and 
said :  "  They  cut  out  the  blue.  They  left  heaven 
out  of  their  flag,  and  so  were  destined  to 
defeat." 

His  first  attendence  at  an  Army  of  the  Potomac 
reunion  was  at  Philadelphia  in  April,  1870.  The 
toast  assigned  him  was  "The  United  States 
Army,"  a  theme  upon  which  his  official  position 
required  him  to  ring  the  changes  for  thirty  years 


268         LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

or  more.  He  was  then  commanding  the  army, 
and  was  very  proud  of  its  record.  After  praising 
its  long  and  glorious  history,  he  said  :  "  The  little 
Regular  Army  was  swallowed  up  in  the  war  of  the 
rebellion,  but  not  lost,  for  it  not  only  preserved  its 
own  organization,  but  permeated  the  great  mass 
of  the  volunteers  and  aided  in  giving  them  form 
and  spirit.  If,  therefore,  it  lessened  the  duration  of 
the  war  by  a  single  year  or  a  single  month,  it  more 
than  paid  back  to  our  people  its  entire  cost  for  the 
previous  half-century.  It  certainly  has  a  right  to 
claim  its  proportion  in  the  glorious  result,  the 
fruits  of  which  we  now  enjoy,  and  that  is  all  the 
share  it  asks." 

HE  LOVED  PEACE. 

In  May,  1873,  he  was  at  the  reunion  in  New 
Haven,  and  there,  too,  were  Grant,  then  President, 
and  Vice- President  Wilson,  Sheridan,  Burnside, 
McDowell,  Devens,  Hartranft  and  other  notable 
men.  His  subject  was  again  the  army,  coupled 
with  the  navy,  concerning  which  latter  he  said: 
"  In  truth,  Mr.  President,  to  expect  a  landsman  to 
glow  in  praise  of  the  sea,  and  the  dangers  and 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  269 

delights  of  it,  is  more  than  ought  to  be  expected 
of  me."  After  a  handsome  eulogy  of  the  army  he 
passed  to  the  question  of  international  arbitration, 
of  which  he  said,  "I,  for  one,  am  perfectly  willing 
to  pass  all  subjects  of  the  controversy  to  the  peace 
congress.  We  of  the  regular  army  are  essentially 
peace  men.  We  love  peace — we  love  it  so  well 
that  we  will  fight  for  it.  That  is  all  you  did  in  the 
war.  You  rose  up  and  buckled  on  your  armor 
that  you  might  secure  peace  in  the  land  you  loved 
— loved  dearer  than  your  lives." 

At  Hartford,  in  1881,  at  the  reunion,  he  paid  his 
respects  to  Jefferson  Davis's  "  Rise  and  Fall  of 
Southern  Confederacy,"  then  first  published.  Said 
he :  '  I  confess  I  have  not  seen  the  volume,  only 
the  copious  extracts,  and  hardly  know  whether  to 
treat  them  seriously  or  jocularly.  It  was  not 
expected  that  he  would  feel  kindly  to  those  who 
awakened  him  so  rudely  from  his  dream  of 
empire ;  but  surely  in  stating  facts  beyond  the 
reach  of  his  vision  or  understanding,  he  ought  to 
have  approximated  the  truth  even  as  to  his 
enemies.  Assuming  the  quotations  published  to 
be  authentic,  I  wish  to  say  that  it  was  lucky  for  Mr. 


270          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

Davis  that  General  Johnston,  in  May,  1864,  did 
not  obey  his  orders  and  assume  the  offensive  from 
Dalton  to  the  north  side  of  the  Tennessee  River. 
One  would  suppose  that  after  the  experience  of 
Johnston  and  Hood,  whose  skill  and  courage  no 
man  disputes,  even  Mr.  Davis  would  be  con- 
vinced that  the  aggressive  campaign  foreshadowed 
in  his  seven  general  propositions  of  April  16, 
1864,  was  the  veriest  nonsense.  Johnston  did 
not  have  at  Dalton  70,000  men,  and  Mr.  Davis 
ought  to  have  known  it,  and  Johnston  on  the  spot 
was  better  qualified  to  judge  than  Mr.  Davis  at 
Richmond." 

HIS  LAST  ARMY  SPEECH. 

I  could  fill  columns  with  extracts  from  his 
speeches  at  these  reunions,  teeming  with  personal 
reminiscences,  historic  facts,  wit,  wisdom  and 
patriotism.  His  last  appearance  before  us  was  at 
Portland  last  summer,  and  he  was  never  more 
happy  or  more  overflowing  with  that  geniality 
which  ever  characterized  his  grand  and  yet  simple 
nature.  His  place  is  vacant,  and  the  "  boys  "  in 
the  East  will  miss  him  quite  as  much  as  the 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  271 

"  boys"  of  the  West  who  followed  him  unfalteringly 
through  many  glorious  campaigns  until  they 
joined  their  companions  at  Washington  in  that 
final  review  of  the  finest  army  the  world  ever  saw. 
General  Sherman's  affection  for  any  and  all  men 
who  wore  the  blue  was  unstinted.  In  a  recent 
conversation  with  Major  D.  F.  Wright  and  myself 
he  said  he  expected  to  be  laid  at  rest  in  St.  Louis, 
and  wanted  to  be  buried  by  his  old  Post  Ransom, 
a  wish  which  was  fully  carried  out.  It  is  an  ex- 
ceptionaj  honor  that  all  old  soldiers  are  justified 
in  envying. 


272          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  IVM.   T.  SHERMAN. 


BY  GEORGE  W.  CHILDS. 

T  RECALL  an  incident  which  happened  while 
we  were  at  Long  Branch,  just  after  General 
Sherman's  Memoirs  had  been  published.  Refer- 
ring to  the  work,  I  asked  if  General  Grant  had 
read  it.  He  said  he  had  not  had  time  to  do  so, 
One  of  the  persons  present  observed,  "  Why, 
General,  you  won't  find  much  in  it  about  yourself. 
Sherman  doesn't  seem  to  think  you  were  in  the 
war."  The  General  said,  "  I  don't  know ;  I  have 
seen  some  adverse  criticisms,  but  I  am  going  to 
read  it  and  judge  the  book  for  myself." 

After  he  had  perused  the  work  carefully  and 
attentively,  I  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  it. 
"Well,"  he  said,  "it  has  done  me  full  justice.  It 
has  given  me  more  credit  than  I  deserve.  Any 
criticism  I  miq-ht  make  would  be  that  I  think 

o 

Sherman  has  not  done  justice  to  Logan,  Blair, 
and  other  volunteer  generals,  whom  he  calls  poli- 
tical generals.  These  men  did  their  duty  faith- 

272 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  273 

fully,  and  I  never  believe  in  imputing  motives  to 
people." 

General  Sherman  had  sent  to  me  the  proof- 
sheets  of  that  portion  of  the  Memoirs  relating  to 
General  Grant  before  the  book  was  published, 
and  asked  if  I  had  any  suggestions  to  make,  and 
if  I  thought  he  had  been  just  to  the  General.  I 
informed  General  Grant  that  I  had  read  these 
proof-sheets,  and  that  I  thought,  as  he  did,  that 
General  Sherman  had  done  him  full  justice.  Gen- 
eral Grant  had  the  highest  opinion  of  General 
Sherman  as  a  military  man,  and  always  enter- 
tained a  great  personal  regard  for  him.  He  was 
always  magnanimous,  particularly  to  his  army 
associates.  He  was  a  man  who  rarely  used  the 
pronoun  I  in  conversation  when  speaking  of  his 
battles. 

There  is  an  amusing  little  incident  I  recall,  d 
propos  of  a  large  painting  of  General  Sherman  on 
his  "  March  to  the  Sea,"  which  hangs  in  the  hall  of 
my  Long  Branch  house,  and  which  was  painted  by 
KaufTmann.  Sherman  sits  in  front  of  the  tent,  in 
a  white  shirt,  without  coat  or  vest.  The  picture 
shows  a  camp-fire  in  front,  and  the  moonlight  in 

18 


274         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

the  rear  of  the  tents.  The  criticism  of  General 
Grant  when  he  first  saw  it  was,  "That  is  all  very 
fine;  it  looks  like  Sherman;  but  he  never  wore  a 
boiled  shirt  there,  I  am  sure." 

While  living  at  Long  Branch  few  Confederate 
officers  who  visited  the  place  failed  to  call  upon 
General  Grant.  He  was  always  glad  to  see  them, 
and  he  invariably  talked  over  with  them  the  inci- 
dents and  results  of  the  war.  The  General  held 
in  high  estimation  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston, 
and  always  spoke  of  him  as  one  of  the  very  best 
of  the  Southern  generals.  At  one  of  my  dinners 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  getting  Johnston,  Grant, 
Sherman,  and  Sheridan  together. 

General  Sherman,  who,  during  all  the  preced- 
ing ceremonies,  had  sat  on  the  platform  with  folded 
hands  and  tear-dimmed  and  downcast  eyes,  in  re- 
sponse to  many  calls,  was  introduced.  As  the 
General  arose  the  assemblage  broke  forth  into 
wild  cheering. 

The  applause  was  persistent  as  General  Sher- 
man stood  upon  his  feet,  after  repeated  calls.  He 
spoke  with  feeling,  and  his  deeply-lined  face, 
closely  watched  by  those  who  never  before  had 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  273 

seen  him,  was  moved  by  intense  earnestness. 
The  light  of  clustered  lamps  fell  upon  his  silvered 
head  as  he  spoke,  and  his  strong  face  was  tremu- 
lous with  emotion  as  he  referred  to  the  fact  that 
by  a  strange  accident  of  nature  he  was  the  only 
one  living  now  of  the  three  whose  portraits  were 
before  his  hearers,  and  there  was  a  sad  quality  in 
his  voice  when  he  said,  "I  was  older  than  either 
Grant  or  Sheridan." 

I  recall  General  Sherman's  speech  at  the  time 
I  presented  portraits  of  himself,  Grant  and  Sheri- 
dan to  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point. 

GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  REMARKS. 

" '  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  and  those  Cadets 
behind:  I  fear  that  West  Point  is  losing  that  good 
old  reputation  for  doing  and  not  speaking.  I 
have  done  more  talking  than  I  should  have  done, 
and  I  believe  I  have  done  some  good,  though  not 
such  as  I  thought  of  doing.  It  is  one  of  those 
strange  incidents  of  my  life  that  I  am  permitted  to 
stand  before  you  to-night  the  sole  survivor  of  the 
trio,  or  trinity,  of  the  Generals  of  the  Army  of  the 
United  States.  I  was  older  than  Grant  or  Sheri- 


276          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

dan.  No  three  men  ever  lived  on  the  earth's  sur- 
face so  diverse  in  mental  and  physical  attributes 
as  the  three  men  whose  portraits  you  now  look 
upon.  Different  in  every  respect  except  one — 
we  had  a  guiding  star;  we  had  an  emblem  of 
nationality  in  our  minds  implanted  at  West  Point, 
which  made  us  come  together  for  the  common 
purpose  like  the  rays  of  the  sun  coming  together 
make  them  burn.  This,  my  young  friends  in 
gray,  I  want  you  to  remember,  that  men  may 
differ  much,  but  that  by  coming  together  in  har- 
mony and  friendship  and  love  they  may  move 
mountains. 

"'I  knew  these  men  from  the  soles  of  their  feet 
to  the  tops  of  their  heads.  They  breathed  the 
same  feelings  with  me.  We  were  soldiers  to  obey 
the  orders  of  our  country's  government  and  carry 
them  out  whatever  the  peril  that  threatened  us. 
Having  done  so,  we  laid  down  our  arms,  like  good 
citizens  that  we  hope  to  have  been,  giving  the 
example  to  all  of  the  world  that  war  is  for  one 
purpose — to  produce  peace.  A  just  war  will  pro- 
duce peace;  an  unjust  war  has  ambition  or  some 
other  bad  motive.  Our  war  was  purely  patriotic, 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  277 

to  help  the  Government  in  its  peril.  We  were 
taught  to  idolize  that  flag  on  the  flagstaff,  obey- 
ing the  common  law,  and  working  to  a  common 
purpose.  No  jealousies,  nothing  of  the  kind; 
working  together  like  soldiers,  the  lieutenant 
obeying  the  captain,  the  captain  his  colonel,  the 
brigadier  the  general,  and  all  subordinate  to  the 
President  of  the  Unites  States — the  Commander- 
in-Chief.  There  is  no  need  to  prophesy;  it  is  as 
plain  as  mathematics.  You  can  look  in  the 
heavens  and  read  it.  It  is  the  lesson  of  life. 
When  war  comes  you  can  have  but  one  purpose 
— your  country — and  by  your  country  I  mean  the 
whole  country,  not  part  of  it'" 

HISTORY  OF  THE   PORTRAITS. 

Major  John  M.  Carson,  chief  of  the  Philadel- 
phia Ledger  Bureau  at  Washington,  has  furnished 
the  following  account  of  the  painting  of  the  por- 
traits of  Generals  Grant,  Sherman  and  Sheridan 
for  the  Military  Academy: — 

"The  creation  of  portraits  of  Generals  Grant, 
Sherman,  and  Sheridan  now  hung  in  the  Cadet 
Mess  Hall — to  be  hereafter  known  as  Grant 


278         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

Hall — at  the  United  States  Military  Academy, 
West  Point,  was  begun  about  three  years  ago. 
The  original  purpose  was  confined  to  a  portrait 
of  Grant.  The  portraits  of  Sherman  and  Sheri- 
dan sprang  from  this  purpose,  and  considering 
the  relations  of  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  to  whose 
patriotism  and  liberality  the  Military  Academy  is 
indebted  for  the  portraits,  with  those  three  military 
chieftains,  the  Sherman  and  Sheridan  paintings 
were  an  easy  and  logical  outgrowth.  The  scheme 
from  which  these  three  large  valuable  paintings 
emanated  was  evolved  from  a  comparatively  un- 
important incident.  About  four  years  ago,  with 
that  skill  and  ingenuity  which  have  made  him 
famous  in  the  management  of  the  Cadet  Mess, 
Captain  William  F.  Spurgin,  Treasurer,  Quarter- 
master and  Commissary  of  Cadets,  succeeded  in 
giving  the  Mess  Hall  a  new  floor  and  having  its 
walls  brightened. 

"Captain  Spurgin  next  conceived  the  idea  of 
making  the  Hall  still  more  attractive  by  hanging 
pictures  and  portraits  upon  the  walls.  This  was 
approved  by  General  Wesley  Merritt,  then  Super- 
intendent of  the  Academy,  who  authorized  the 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  279 

transfer  from  the  library  of  several  portraits  for 
this   purpose.     When    these   were   hung   in    the 
Mess  Hall  a  new  idea  was  suggested  to  Captain 
Spurgin,  and  he  concluded  that  it  would  be  most 
appropriate  to  collect  for  the  Hall  portraits  and 
photographs  of  the  distinguished  graduates  of  the 
Academy.     It   was    naturally   thought    that    the 
daily  presence  with  the  cadets  of  these  exemplars 
of  the  Academy  could  not  fail  to  exercise  a  whole- 
some influence  upon  the  corps.    They  would  fur- 
nish cadets  when  at  meals  suggestions  for  thought 
and  conversation,  and  those  who  occupied  seats 
at  tables  once  occupied  by  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheri- 
dan,  Meade,  Thomas,   Hancock,  and  other  emi- 
nent graduates,  as  they  looked  upon  the  portraits, 
would  be  encouraged  to  emulate  the  lives  of  those 
great    chieftains.     In    addition    to    this,    it    was 
thought  that  such   a  gallery  might  be  collected 
through  relatives  and  friends,  without  expense  to 
the  Government  or  the  Academy. 

"During  one  of  my  periodical  visits  to  the 
Academy  Captain  Spurgin  outlined  his  scheme, 
and  said  he  would  like  to  obtain  a  good  picture  of 
General  Grant.  It  was  suggested  that  Mr. 


280          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

George  W.  Childs  had  several  good  large  size 
photographs  of  Grant,  and  would  doubtless  be 
glad  to  contribute  one  of  them  for  this  use. 
Captain  Spurgin  wrote  to  Mr.  Childs,  who  agreed 
to  comply  with  the  request  made.  Shortly  there- 
after Mr.  Childs  mentioned  this  matter  to  Mrs.  U. 
S.  Grant,  who  said  that  she  would  like,  above  all 
things,  to  have  a  good  likeness  of  her  husband 
at  the  Military  Academy,  for  which  he  always 
entertained  a  feeling  of  admiration  and  love. 
Some  years  prior  to  this  Mr.  Childs  had  Leutze, 
who  painted  'Westward  the  Course  of  Empire' 
upon  the  wall  of  the  west  stairway  to  the  gallery 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  at  Washington, 
paint  a  portrait  of  General  Grant,  and  suggested 
that  the  Leutze  painting  be  transferred  from  the 
library  to  the  Cadet  Mess  Hall.  The  Leutze 
portrait  was  not  liked  by  Mrs.  Grant,  and  she  did 
not,  therefore,  care  to  have  it  used  for  this  pur- 
pose. Mr.  Childs  then  said  he  would  have  a 
portrait  of  the  General  made  for  West  Point 
from  any  picture  Mrs.  Grant  might  select.  The 
photograph  made  by  Gutekunst,  of  Philadelphia, 
in  1865,  was  selected  by  Mrs.  Grant,  and  Mrs. 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  281 

Darragh,  of  Philadelphia,  was  commissioned  to 
paint  a  portrait  from  it.  The  General  stood  for 
this  photograph.  It  is  regarded  by  his  family,  and 
those  who  were  his  associates,  as  a  correct  like- 
ness of  the  General  as  he  appeared  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  When  the  photograph  was  taken 
General  Grant  wore  upon  his  left  arm  a  badge  of 
mourning  for  President  Lincoln.  This  emblem  of 
mourning  does  not  appear  in  the  painting.  To 
many  of  those  who  knew  General  Grant  after  he 
became  President,  the  Darragh  portrait  is  not 
considered  good,  but  by  the  family  of  the  General, 
and  by  those  who  were  intimate  with  him  during 
and  immediately  after  the  war,  it  is  regarded  as  a 
faithful  likeness  and  an  excellent  portrait.  It  was 
sent  to  the  Academy  in  May,  1887,  and  hung  on 
the  north  wall  of  the  Cadet  Mess  Hall.  General 
Merritt,  'in  honor  of  the  great  graduate  of  the 
Academy,  whose  portrait,  a  present  to  the. 
Academy  from  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  sanctifies 
the  hall  as  a  gallery  for  the  portraits  of  graduates,' 
issued  an  order  directing  that  thereafter  the  cadet 
dining-hall  should  be  known  officially  as  GRANT 
HALL. 


282          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

"In  June,  1887,  a  few  days  after  the  Grant 
portrait  had  been  hung,  Mr.  Childs  visited  the 
Military  Academy  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Visitors,  upon  which  occasion  I  accompanied  him. 
General  Sheridan  also  visited  the  Academy  at 
that  time  in  his  official  capacity  as  Lieutenant- 
General  commanding  the  army,  and  it  proved  to 
be  his  last  visit  to  the  institution.  In  company 
with  Mr.  Childs  General  Sheridan  visited  the 
dining-hall  to  inspect  the  Grant  portrait,  and  dur- 
ing this  inspection  Mr.  Childs  said  to  the  General, 
in  his  quick  but  cheerful  manner  in  conversation: 
*  General,  if  I  outlive  you  I  will  have  your  portrait 
painted  and  hung  there  beside  that  of  Grant.' 

11  Sheridan  responded:  'Mr.  Childs,  if  you 
intend  to  have  painted  a  portrait  of  me  I  would 
like  to  see  it  before  it  is  hung  in  this  hall.' 

"'All  right,'  said  Mr.  Childs;  'you  shall  see  it. 
VI  would  prefer  to  have  you  painted  while  living.' 

"After  further  conversation  about  the  Grant 
portrait,  the  two  gentlemen  left  the  hall  and 
walked  to  the  house  of  the  superintendent,  Gen- 
eral Merritt,  at  which  General  Sheridan  was  a 
guest.  Mr.  Childs  proceeded  to  the  West  Point 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  283 

Hotel.  Sheridan  arrived  at  the  Point  that  morn- 
ing, and  was  to  review  the  corps  of  cadets  in  the 
afternoon,  and,  as  it  was  near  the  hour  fixed  for 
the  parade  when  General  Merritt's  house  was 
reached,  he  went  directly  to  his  room  to  don  his 
uniform.  While  thus  engaged  he  sent  a  messen- 
ger to  Mr.  Childs,  asking  that  gentleman  to  join 
him  before  'parade,'  and,  at  the  same  time,  in- 
vited the  Board  of  Visitors,  through  Mr.  Childs, 
who  was  President  of  the  Board,  to  attend  him 
during  the  ceremonies  of  parade  and  review. 

"When  Mr.  Childs  joined  the  General  on  the 
porch  of  the  superintendent's  house,  the  latter 
said:  'Mr.  Childs,  while  putting  on  my  uniform,  I 
could  not  help  musing  about  our  conversation  in 
the  Mess  Hall.  If  you  are  in  earnest  about 
painting  my  portrait  for  the  Academy,  I  want  to 
be  painted  from  life.' 

'"I  am  in  earnest,'  replied  Mr.  Childs.  'The 
portrait  shall  be  painted,  upon  one  condition — it 
must  please  Mrs.  Sheridan.  I  think  it  would  be 
a  good  idea  to  paint  Sherman  also,  and  to  hang 
him  on  the  one  side  of  Grant  and  you  on  the 
other.' 


284          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 
\ 

'"That  certainly  would  be  a  generous  act  upon 
your  part,'  said  Sheridan,  'and  one  which  would 
be  appreciated  by  Sherman  and  myself.  I  would 
rather  have  you  do  this  service  than  any  other 
man,  because  no  one  could  do  it  with  so  much 
propriety.  The  relations  between  Grant  and 
you  were  bound  by  strong  ties  of  mutual  affec- 
tion. Those  between  you,  Sherman,  and  myself 
have  been  most  intimate.  We  have  all  been 
guests  at  the  same  time,  and  many  times,  at  your 
house.  You  have  come  to  know  us  better  than 
other  men  know  us.  Grant,  Sherman,  and  my- 
self were  closely  connected  with  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion.  United  thus  in  our  lives,  we 
should  be  placed  together  here,  returned  as  it 
were  to  the  Academy  from  which  we  started 
out  in  the  morning  of  life  as  second  lieutenants. 
Associated  as  you  have  been  with  us,  you  are  the 
very  man  to  keep  us  united  after  death.' 

"'All  right,  General,'  said  Mr.  Childs.  'The 
portraits  shall  be  painted  and  hung  in  the  Mess 
Hall.  Now  select  your  artist.' 

"When  Mr.  Childs  spoke  to  General  Sheridan 
in  the  Mess  Hall  about  painting  his  portrait,  the 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  285 

latter  did  not  think  that  Mr.  Childs  was  serious. 
I  happen  to  know  that  Mr.  Childs  formed  the 
determination  to  add  the  portraits  of  Sherman 
and  Sheridan  to  his  contribution  prior  to  his  visit 
to  the  Academy,  and  informed  General  Sheridan 
of  this  fact  upon  his  return  to  Washington  from 
West  Point  during  a  conversation  in  which  he  re- 
lated to  me  what  I  have  stated  touching  the  con- 
versation with  Mr.  Childs  at  West  Point,  and  also 
the  conversation  between  Childs,  Sheridan,  affd 
Sherman  in  relation  to  painting  a  portrait  of  the 
General  last  named. 

"Shortly  after  the  conversation  between  Childs 
and  Sheridan,  on  the  porch  of  the  superintend- 
ent's house,  the  battalion  was  formed  on  the 
parade-ground.  General  Sheridan,  accompanied 
by  the  superintendent  and  staff  and  the  board  of 
visitors,  had  passed  down  the  front  and  up  the  rear 
of  the  battalion,  and  had  taken  his  place  at  the 
point  designated  for  the  reviewing  officer,  when 
General  Sherman  rode  up  from  Cranston's  Hotel, 
located  about  a  mile  south  of  the  reservation. 
Sherman  remained  in  his  carriage,  which  was 
drawn  up  in  front  of  the  parade-ground  and  di- 


286          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

rectly  in  rear  of  the  reviewing  officer.  As  the  corps 
passed  in  common,  and  subsequently  in  double 
time,  Sherman  stood  up  and  watched,  with  old  time 
eagerness  and  pride,  the  columns  of  gray  and  white 
until  they  wheeled  into  a  faultless  line,  tendered 
the  final  salute*  to  the  reviewing  officer,  heard  the 
cadet  adjutant  announce  'parade  is  dismissed,' 
and  saw  the  companies  move,  to  lively  music,  from 
the  parade-ground  to  the  cadet  barracks.  Then 
he  alighted  from  the  carriage,  pushed  through  the 
crowd  that  always  fringes  the  parade-ground 
upon  occasions  of  parade  and  review,  and  joined 
Sheridan  and  the  other  officials  who  still  lingered 
on  the  ground.  When  the  usual  salutations  and 
introductions  had  been  concluded,  Sheridan  drew 
Sherman  and  Childs  apart  from  the  crowd  and 
said:  'Sherman,  Mr.  Childs  informs  me  that  he 
intends  to  have  portraits  of  you  and  me  painted, 
to  hang  beside  that  of  General  Grant  in  the  Mess 
Hall.  He  proposes  to  wait  until  we  die,  but  I 
insisted  that  the  paintings  be  made  before  we  die, 
so  we  may  see  how  that  artist  executes  us.  He 
has  agreed  to  do  this,  and  I  told  him  he  is  the  one 
man  who  can  and  should  do  it.'  " 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  287 


BY  GENERAL  O.  O.  HOWARD, 

WHO  LED  THE    RIGHT  WING  ON  THE  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA. 

IVf  O  MAN  is  better  able  to  give  an  accurate  es- 
timate of  General  Sherman  as  a  soldier  and 
a  citizen  than  Major-General  O.  O.  Howard,  now 
in  command  of  the  Division  of  the  Atlantic.  He 
was  not  only  General  Sherman's  right-hand  com- 
mander during  the  historical  march  to  the  sea, 
but  he  served  with  him  in  many  other  campaigns, 
saw  him  under  fire  as  a  resourceful  leader  extri- 
cating his  command  from  many  a  perilous  situa- 
tion and  in  every  other  position  that  could  test 
his  qualities  as  a  general.  Besides,  General 
Howard  had  been  his  warm  and  close  friend  be- 
fore the  war  and  continued  in  that  relation  until 
General  Sherman's  death.  They  started  out  in 
their  military  careers  almost  together,  and  it  so 
happened  that  in  their  services  during  the  civil 
war  they  were  more  often  thrown  together  than 
any  other  two  commanders  of  note  in  the  army : 


288          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

"  My  intimate  associations  with  General  Sher- 
man for  so  many  years  in  so  many  situations  of 
danger  and  hardship  made  me  look  upon  him 
as  much  more  than  a  friend. 

"  I  had  a  feeling  of  tenderness  toward  him 
almost  filial.  He  was  my  adviser  and  support 
in  a  good  many  anxious  hours.  I  never  found 
him  other  than  a  wise  counselor  and  true,  kind- 
hearted  friend. 

"  He  was  twelve  years  older  than.  I  when  we 
went  west  together,  and  he  got  his  brigade  before 
I  did,  which  was  right  and  proper;  but  we  were 
together  during  almost  the  whole  course  of  the 
war.  He  had  been  in  the  South,  thoroughly 
understood  the  plans  of  the  Confederate  States, 
and,  having  a  capacious  mind,  took  in  the  whole 
situation  at  the  beginning.  His  long  military 
experience,  with  these  advantages,  made  him  of 
invaluable  service  to  his  country  from  the  begin- 
ning of  hostilities. 

HIS    EARLIER  SERVICES. 

"  His  career  began  as  the  Colonel  of  the  Thir- 
teenth Infantry  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac % 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  289 

under  McDowell.  When  he  was  sent  west  after 
the  first  campaign,  it  was  really  to  take  com- 
mand of  our  forces  there,  and  his  rise  in  prom- 
inence being  very  rapid  by  reason  of  his  admira- 

• 

ble  work  did  not  beget  in  early  days  the  confi- 
dence in  him  that  was  felt  later.  His  prophecies, 
though  abundantly  justified  and  always  sustained 
by  the  event,  did  not  accord  exactly  with  the 
views  of  the  situation  then  held  by  others,  and  it 
was  not  until  the  correctness  of  his  judgment  had 
been  proved  many  times  that  the  full  measure  of 
his  sagacity  and  foresight  began  to  be  realized. 

"  My  own  associated  service  with  him  may  be 
said  to  have  begun  with  the  Chattanooga  campaign. 
I  was  with  him  at  Chattanooga,  Knoxville  and  the 
rest  of  the  hard-fought  battles  in  that  region.  I 
went  with  him  to  Atlanta,  and  returned  to- 
ward the  North  when  we  detached  a  division  to 
chase  Hood.  I  was  with  him  again  when  he 
started  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea,  and  had  com- 
mand of  the  right  wing,  as  General  Slocum  had 
of  the  Jeft  wing,  of  his  army  on  the  whole  of  that 
celebrated  march.  And  so  on  to  Bentonville  and 
the  end  of  the  war  and  to  Washington. 
19 


290          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

"  Not  only  was  I  closely  associated  with  him 
in  the  field  during  his  great  achievement,  meet- 
ing him  every  day  at  his  quarters  and  seeing  him 
under  every  variety  of  vicissitude  that  can  befall 
a  soldier,  but  after  the  war  he  maintained  a  warm 
interest  in  my  welfare.  When  I  was  at  the  head 
of  the  Freedman's  Bank  he  continually  advised 
and  supported  me,  and  made  me  feel  his  friend- 
ship in  more  ways  than  I  can  tell.  I  served 
under  him  again  when  I  was  in  command  in  the 
Northwest,  and  he  was  General  of  the  Army 
during  the  years  when  the  Indian  wars  were 
going  on  in  my  division.  So  you  may  imagine 
the  strength  of  the  feeling  of  obligation  and 
affection  I  entertained  for  him,  as  well  as  my 
opportunities  to  judge  of  his  personal  character. 

HIS   MILITARY  GENIUS. 

"As  a  military  leader  he  was,  in  my  judgment, 
one  of  the  greatest  that  ever  lived,  and  the  only 
General  in  the  war  who  was  a  genius.  Genius 
generally  has  abnormal  development  in  some 
direction  or  another,  and  being  stronger  here  is 
not  so  strong  there.  While,  taken  all  in  all,  Grant 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  291 

was  the  greatest  leader  of  the  war,  Sherman 
was  a  General  of  more  extraordinary  abilities 
in  some  directions.  He  was  not  only  quick  in 
forming  his  designs,  but  his  mind  seemed  to  take 
in  the  whole  field  with  wonderful  grasp. ,  It  was 
as  if  the  whole  country  was  mapped  out  on  his 
capacious  brain. 

"Sherman's  knowledge  of  military  history, 
comprising  the  whole  record  of  war  and  sur- 
passing in  minuteness  that  of  almost  any  other 
man  alive,  was  a  great  source  of  strength  to 
him.  But  his  naturally  resourceful  mind  would 
have  made  him  a  memorable  strategist  in  any 
event.  He  had  not  only  the  power  of  arranging 
his  troops  in  the  way  to  give  them  the  greatest 
advantage,  but  of  so  maneuvering  them  as  to 
force  the  enemy  into  just  the  position  in  which 
he  wanted  them — obviously  a  great  test  of 
strategic  ability,  He  was  quick  to  see  and  take 
advantage  of  his  enemy's  errors,  which  is  another 
test  of  the  same  sort.  While,  like  Napoleon,  he 
managed  to  mass  larger  forces  in  front  of  his 
enemy  than  was  opposed  to  him,  this  merely  de- 
monstrates his  superior  tactics. 


292          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

"  Strategy  was  his  strongest  point.  Take  him 
in  battle  and  he  did  not  seem  to  me  to  be  the 
equal  of  Thomas  or  Grant. 

HIS  FRIENDSHIP  FOR  GRANT. 

"  Grant  and  Sherman  were,  in  fact,  co-ordi- 
nate. One  was  necessary  to  the  other.  The 
friendship  between  them,  by  the  way,  was  one  of 
the  most  interesting  incidents  of  the  war.  They 
were  like  David  and  Jonathan.  Their  relations 
continued  to  be  close  and  tender  until  General 
Grant's  death. 

"As  a  commander  no  man  could  wish  to 
serve  under  a  better  or  more  considerate  gen- 
eral than  Sherman.  He  was  kind,  consider- 
ate, appreciative  and  quick  to  commend. 
Hardship  was  a  pleasure  to  any  one  who 
served  under  him.  I  have  seen  commanders 
under  whom  hardship  was  plain  hardship.  But 
Sherman  had  that  largeness  of  soul  and  freedom 
from  small  motives  characteristic  of  Thomas  and 
other  really  great  leaders.  He  differed  much 
from  Thomas,  however,  in  that  he  was  much 
more  excitable.  He  was  of  the  sort  that  would 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  293 

throw  his  hat  in  the  air  at  a  great  triumph,  sus- 
ceptible to  emotions  and  for  that  reason  open  to 
more  intense  feelings  of  resentment  against 
wrong. 

FATHER    TO  HIS  GENERALS. 

"  Of  the  generals  who  served  under  him  he 
often  spoke  in  the  kindest  way  during  and  after 
the  war.  He  had  for  them  the  affection  of  a 
father  for  his  children.  General  Slocum  he  con- 
sidered one  of  the  best  soldiers  and  best  men 
that  ever  lived.  He  would  not  hear  a  word 
against  him.  General  Schofield,  now  in  com- 
mand of  the  army,  he  considered  another  admir- 
able leader.  These  sub-generals  were  in  fact 
just  what  Sherman  needed.  He  inspired  them 
with  his  own  splendid  animation  and  energy  and 
lifted  them  up  by  his  very  presence.  There  was 
something  about  him  so  magnetic  that  they  said 
they  could  feel  his  influence  before  they  could  see 
him. 

"Take  him  all  in  all,  General  Sherman  was 
not  only  one  of  the  greatest  military  geniuses  in 
history,  but  a  model  of  a  kindly,  generous  and 
faithful  man  in  every  position  in  life. 


294          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

"Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  quality  of  Sher- 
man's mental  make-up  was  his  marvelous  mem- 
ory; probably  at  the  close  of  the  war  he  could  call 
5,000  officers  by  name.  He  had  learned  rapidly 
from  youth  to  manhood,  and  he  appeared  to  have 
forgotten  nothing  that  he  had  ever  learned.  His 
Quartermaster,  Easton,  went  to  him  for  the  solu- 
tion of  transportation  problems  as  to  a  written 
authority.  In  ten  minutes  he  would  demonstrate 
to  his  chief  commissary  the  number  of  rations  that 
would  support  his  different  armies  for  a  week  or 
a  month.  He  was  apparently  abreast  of  the  great 
engineer,  Granville  M.  Dodge,  in  train-running, 
bridge-building,  and  railroad  construction.  He 
was  a  little  ahead  of  the  Confederate  Hood  in  all 
his  quick  correspondence,  involving  the  laws  of 
war  and  of  nations,  and  whenever  General  Blair 
and  myself  came  to  him  to  decide  between  us  on 
some  historical  point,  awakened  by  our  proximity 
in  the  Carolinas  to  an  old  Revolutionary  battle- 
field, Sherman  had  it  at  his  tongue's  end,  and 
whatever  the  difference,  we  happily  bowed  to  his 

decision.      This    indicates   fundamental   acquire- 

i 

ment  and  extraordinary  memory." 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  295 


BY  MR.  HIRAM  HITCHCOCK. 

FIFTH  AVENUE  HOTEL,   NEW  YORK. 

ENERAL  SHERMAN  was  a  guest  of  this 
house  off  and  on  for  many  years,  and  as 
such  he  naturally  became  very  much  beloved 
by  our  whole  household.  After  General 
Grant's  funeral  was  over,  I  spent  the  evening 
with  General  Sherman,  and  he  told  me  of  his 
plans  for  the  future,  that  he  wanted  to  move 
quietly  from  St.  Louis  and  locate  in  New  York. 
He  said  that  he  thought  he  should  enjoy  New 
York  very  much,  and  his  youngest  son  was 
then  finishing  his  course  at  Yale,  and  the  change 
would  bring  him  near  to  New  Haven.  After 
that  the  General  arranged  by  correspondence  for 
his  rooms  on  the  parlor  floor,  Twenty-fifth  street 
side.  He  came  here  with  Mrs.  Sherman  and  the 
daughters,  and  the  youngest  son  used  to  come  in 
frequently  from  Yale.  At  his  first  after-dinner 
speech  in  New  York — that  at  the  New  England 


296          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM,  T.  SHERMAN. 

Society  dinner — General  Sherman  referred  to 
having  moved  to  New  York,  and  said  that  he  had 
gone  into  winter-quarters  down  at  the  Fifth  Ave- 
nue Hotel,  where  there  was  good  grass  and 
water. 

"The  General  was  very  particular  to  have  every- 
thing arranged  to  suit  Mrs.  Sherman.  He  said  that 
as  to  himself  it  did  not  make  much  difference.  He 
was  used  to  roughing  it,  and  he  could  take  anything, 
but  he  wanted  Mrs.  Sherman  to  be  very  nicely  fixed 
and  to  have  things  to  her  own  mind.  On  the  other 
hand,  Mrs.  Sherman  said  to  me;  'It  doesn't  make 
so  very  much  difference  about  me,  but  I  wish  to 
have  the  General  comfortable.  Dear  old  fellow, 
he  has  seen  a  great  deal  of  roughing  it,  and  I 
want  him  to  be  entirely  at  ease.'  They  were  very 
happy  and  comfortable  here  during  their  two 
years'  stay,  which  began  on  September  i,  1886, 
and  General  Sherman's  idea  of  having  a  house 
was  mainly  to  make  it  pleasanter  and  more  agree- 
able, if  possible,  for  Mrs.  Sherman  and  the  daugh- 
ters ;  to  give  Mrs.  Sherman  a  little  more  quiet 
than  she  could  have  at  a  hotel,  although  she  lived 
very  quietly  here. 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  297 

"  During  the  General's  residence  here  he  was, 
of  course,  a  conspicuous  figure.  He  was  always 
genial  and  affable  to  every  one,  very  easily  ap- 
proached, and  he  received  and  entertained  a  great 
many  of  his  old  Army  companions  and  aided 
a  vast  number  of  them.  In  fact,  no  one  knows 
how  many  Army  men  Gen.  Sherman  has  first  and 
last  assisted  pecuniarily  and  in  various  ways,  help- 
ing them  to  get  positions  and  giving  them  advice 
and  encouragement.  He  used  to  meet  hosts  of 
friends  and  acquaintances  in  the  hotel.  I  remem- 
ber his  saying  once  that  he  would  have  to  stop 
shaking  hands,  for  he  had  lost  one  nail,  and  if  he 
didn't  quit  soon  he  would  lose  them  all.  If  he 
went  to  the  dining-room,  people  from  different 
parts  of  the  country  who  knew  him  would  get  up 
and  go  over  to  his  table  and  talk  to  him. 

"  It  was  a  sort  of  a  reception  with  him  all  the 
time — one  continuous  reception.  He  was  very 
democratic  in  all  his  movements,  and  he  always 
dined  in  the  public  room. 

"The  General  kept  one  room  for  a  regular  work- 
ing-room for  himself.  There  he  had  his  desk,  a 
large  library,  scrap-baskets,  letter-files,  etc.,  and 


298         LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

that  is  where  he  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving  his 
friends. 

"  As  for  the  society  side  of  his  life  here,  Miss 
Sherman  and  her  father  had  regular  weekly  recep- 
tions during  the  season  in  the  large  drawing-room. 

"  General  Sherman  was  exceedingly  particular 
with  reference  to  financial  affairs.  There  never 
was  a  more  honest  man  born  than  General  Sher- 
man. He  was  particular  to  pay  his  bills  of  every 
sort  in  full  and  to  pay  them  promptly.  He  could 
not  bear  to  be  in  debt.  It  actually  worried  him 
to  have  a  matter  stand  over  for  a  day.  He  knew 
just  exactly  how  his  affairs  stood  every  day,  and 
he  could  not  bear  to  owe  a  man  anything  for 
twenty-four  hours.  And  he  was  just  as  honest 
and  frank  and  faithful  in  speech  and  in  every 
other  element  of  his  character.  He  carried  his 
character  right  on  the  outside,  and  it  was  true  blue. 

"When  he  went  to  his  house  at  No.  75  West 
Seventy-first  street,  we  kept  up  our  relations 
with  him,  and  we  would  occasionally  send  up  some 
little  thing  to  him.  Soon  after  he  moved  we  sent 
him  a  couple  of  packages,  and  in  acknowledg- 
ment he  sent  us  this  letter: 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  299 

"75  West  Seventy-first  street,  Sept.  28,  1888. 

Messrs.  HITCHCOCK,  DARLING  &  Co., 

Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  N.  Y. 

"Dear  sirs:  I  am  this  moment  in  receipt  of  two 
boxes,  the  contents  of  which  will,  I  am  sure,  be 
most  acceptable  to  self  and  guests.  With  pro- 
found thanks  for  past  favors,  many  and  heavy, 
and  a  hearty  wish  for  your  continued  prosperity, 
I  am  and  always  shall  be,  your  grateful  debtor, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN." 

"Whenever  the  old  General  would  come  to  this 
part  of  the  city  he  would  drop  in.  If  he  was 
going  to  the  theatre  he  would  call  in  before  or 
after  the  performance — at  all  hours,  in  fact,  he 
would  come,  and  between  his  engagements.  He 
used  to  sit  in  this  office  and  chat.  He  was  in 
this  office  just  after  Secretary  Windom's  death, 
and  was  asking  about  that  sad  occurrence.  The 
last  time  he  was  here  was  only  a  night  or  two  before 
he  was  taken  sick  with  the  fatal  cold  which  was 
the  beginning  of  his  last  illness.  I  went  to  the 
door  with  him  and  bade  him  good-night,  and  he 
turned  and  said  cheerily,  'Come  up,  Hitchcock, 
come  up.'  I  said,  'I'll  be  up  in  a  few  days,'  and 
off  he  moved  in  his  quick  way. 


300         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

"The  General  was,  as  everybody  knows,  a  splen- 
did conversationalist.  He  had  a  wonderful  fund 
of  anecdote,  story  and  reminiscence,  and  was  a 
capital  story-teller.  He  was  never  at  a  loss  for  a 
ready  reply. 

"  This  was  one  of  his  comments  on  a  story  that 
he  was  not  quite  ready  to  believe.  'Oh,  well,  you 
can  tell  that  to  the  marines,  but  don't  tell  it  to  an 
old  soldier  like  me.' 

"  I  think  there  was  one  very  striking  peculiarity, 
about  General  Sherman.  Of  course  we  have 
seen  it  in  different  public  men,  but  I  think  it  may 
be  said  of  Sherman  fully  as  strongly  as  of  any 
other  public  man  either  in  military  or  civil  life, 
that  he  was  as  brave  as  a  lion  and  as  gentle  as 
a  woman.  When  anything  touched  him  it  revealed 
the  sympathy  of  his  nature.  He  was  wonder- 
fully kind-hearted. 

"If  there  was  an  uncompromising  patriot  any- 
where in  the  country  it  was  General  Sherman,  and 
he  manifested  that  in  every  walk  of  life,  every 
expression,  every  look.  He  was  a  true  hero. 
He  was  not  only  one  of  the  great  men,  but  one  of 
the  purest  men  of  his  time." 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  301 


BY  ADMIRAL  PORTER. 

A  DMIRAL  PORTER,  in  one  of  his  books,  gives 
a  racy  account  of  the  meeting  and  a  good 
portrait  of  Sherman.  They  had  never  before  met. 
"Thinking,"  says  the  admiral,  "that  Sherman 
would  be  dressed  in  full  feather,  I  put  on  my 
uniform  coat,  the  splendor  of  which  rivaled  that 
of  a  drum  major.  Sherman,  hearing  that  I  was 
indifferent  to  appearances  and  generally  dressed 
in  working  clothes,  thought  he  would  not  annoy 
me  by  fixing  up  and  so  kept  on  his  blue  flannel 
suit,  and  we  met,  both  a  little  surprised  at  the 
appearance  of  the  other. 

" '  Halloo,  Porter,'  said  the  General.  '  I  am 
glad  to  see  you ;  you  got  here  sooner  than  I 
expected,  but  we'll  get  off  to-night.  (They  were 
preparing  for  the  second  attack  on  Vicksburg.) 
Devilish  cold,  isn't  it  ?  Sit  down  and  warm  up.' 
And  he  stirred  up  the  coal  in  the  grate.  '  Here, 
Captain,'  to  one  of  his  aides,  'tell  General  Blair  to 


302          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

get  his  men  on  board  at  once.  Tell  the  Quarter- 
master to  report  as  soon  as  he  has  600,000  rations 
embarked.  Here  Dick,'  to  his  servant,  '  put  me 
up  some  shirts  and  underclothes  in  a  bag,  and 
don't  bother  me  with  a  trunk  and  traps  enough  for 
a  regiment.  Here,  Captain,'  another  aide,  '  tell 
the  steamboat  captain  to  have  steam  up  at  6 
o'clock,  and  to  lay  in  plenty  of  fuel,  for  I'm  not 
going  to  stop  every  few  hours  to  cut  wood.  Tell 
the  officer  in  charge  of  embarkation  to  allow  no 
picking  and  choosing  of  boats — the  Generals  in 
command  must  take  what  is  given  them — there, 
that  will  do.  Glad  to  see  you,  Porter;  how's 
Grant?'" 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  303 


BY  GENERAL  HORACE  PORTER. 

"  T  FIRST  saw  General  Sherman  a  few  weeks 
after  he  had  entered  Atlanta,  when  the  lau- 
rels of  its  capture  were  fresh  upon  his  brow.  Af- 
ter he  and  General  Grant  had  corresponded  for 
more  than  a  month  as  to  the  project  of  Sherman's 
cutting  loose  from  his  base  and  striking  for  some 
point  on  the  coast,  General  Grant,  after  discussing 
with  me  his  plans  in  great  detail,  designated  me  as 
the  staff  officer  who  was  to  visit  General  Sherman, 
communicate  to  him  the  contemplated  movements 
of  the  armies  in  front  of  Richmond,  the  intended 
operations  upon  the  sea-coast,  including  the  prob- 
ability of  an  expedition  for  the  capture  of  Wilming- 
ton, etc.,  and  ascertain  his  views  as  to  his  move- 
ments beyond  Atlanta  under  the  various  contingen- 
cies which  might  arise.  Starting  from  City  Point,  I 
reached  Atlanta  on  the  morning  of  September  18, 
1864,  and  found  the  captor  of  that  stronghold 
seated  on  the  porch  of  a  house  which  he  was 


304        LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

occupying     as      headquarters      on      Peach-tree 
Street. 

"  My  mind  was  naturally  wrought  up  to  a  high 
pitch  of  curiosity  to  see  this  famous  soldier  of  the 
West.  He  sat  tilted  back  in  a  large  chair  reading 
a  newspaper,  his  coat  was  unbuttoned,  his  hat 
slouched  over  his  brow,  and  on  his  feet  were  a 
pair  of  slippers  very  much  down  at  the  heel.  He 
was  the  perfection  of  physical  health,  in  the  prime 
of  life,  being  just  forty-four  years  of  age,  and 
almost  at  the  summit  of  his  military  fame.  With 
his  wiry  frame,  tall  gaunt  form,  restless  hazel 
eyes,  and  crisp  beard,  he  looked  the  picture  of 
'  grim-visaged  war.'  After  he  had  read  a  letter 
with  which  General  Grant  had  provided  me,  he 
entered  at  once  upon  an  animated  discussion  of 
the  military  situation  East  and  West,  and  as  he 
waxed  more  intense  in  his  manner  the  nervous 
energy  of  his  nature  soon  began  to  manifest  itself. 
He  twisted  the  newspaper  which  he  held  into 
every  possible  geometrical  shape,  and  from  time 
to  time  he  drew  first  one  foot  and  then  the  other 
out  of  its  slipper,  and  followed  up  the  movement 
by  shoving  out  its  leg  so  that  his  foot  could 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  805 

recapture   the   slipper   and    thrust   itself  into   it 
again. 

"  What  Hood,  who  commanded  the  enemy, 
would  do  in  case  Sherman  started  from  Atlanta 
for  the  sea  was  of  course  a  blind  surmise.  His 
view  was  that  if  he  could  move  without  a  large 
army  to  confront  him  at  all  points  he  could  easily 
live  off  the  country,  go  where  it  was  deemed  best, 
and  inflict  irreparable  damage  upon  the  Confed- 
eracy ;  but  if  Hood  confronted  him,  he  (Sherman) 
would  exhaust  his  provisions  while  fighting,  and 
probably  have  to  strike  for  the  nearest  point  on 
the  seaboard,  and  it  would  be  highly  important 
to  have  an  abundant  supply  of  provisions  to  meet 
him  at  the  coast.  He  discussed  the  possibilities 
of  the  capturing  of  Savannah  meanwhile,  to  serve 
as  a  base  from  which  supplies  could  be  sent 
up  the  Savannah  River  to  meet  him. 

"  No  one  could  help  being  profoundly  impress- 
ed with  the  comprehensiveness  -of  his  grasp  and 
the  clearness  of  his  views.  His  active  and  well- 
disciplined  brain  seemed  to  consider  and  provide 
in  advance  for  every  possible  contingency  that 
could  arise  in  the  doubtful  fortunes  of  so  vast  a 
20 


306         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

campaign.  I  was  authorized  to  assure  him  that 
General  Grant  would  spare  no  effort  to  co-oper- 
ate with  him  to  the  fullest  extent  from  the  East, 
in  the  way  of  sending  a  fleet  of  commissary  sup- 
plies, etc.,  to  meet  him  as  soon  as  it  was  known 
at  what  point  he  would  be  likely  to  reach  the 
coast.  His  expressions  as  to  his  confidence  in 
the  certainty  of  his  chief  to  make  provision  for 
him  were  as  emphatic  as  the  words  written  to 
that  chief  after  the  Vicksburg  campaign:  'I 
knew  wherever  I  was  that  you  thought  of  me,  and 
if  I  got  in  a  tight  place,  you  would  help  me  out  if 
alive.' 

"  It  was  agreed  that  the  publications  in  South- 
ern newspapers — which  we  always  received 
through  the  lines — the  information  obtained  from 
scouts,  prisoners,  deserters,  and  the  '  reliable 
contraband,'  would  give  ample  news  of  his  where- 
abouts and  his  progress  through  the  country. 
After  a  full  discussion  of  the  subject  in  all  its 
bearings,  he  gave  me  just  before  leaving  a  letter 
addressed  to  General  Grant  to  carry  back  to  him, 
which  closed  as  follows :  '  I  admire  your  dogged 
perseverance  and  pluck  more  than  ever.  If  you. 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  307 

can  whip  Lee  and  I  can  march  to  the  Atlantic,  I 
think  Uncle  Abe  will  give  us  a  twenty  days'  leave 
of  absence  to  see  the  young  folks.'  The  record 
of  the  success  of  that  march  to  the  sea  has  since 
become  one  of 'the  most  brilliant  pages  of  Ameri- 
can history. 

" '  Not  many  years  ago,  while  sitting  beside  the 
General  at  a  banquet,  the  band  struck  up  the  air 
with  which  he  was  invariably  greeted  upon  public 
occasions,  '  As  Sherman  goes  marching  through 
Georgia.'  He  said :  '  It  seems  that  I  am  always 
to  be  known  best  as  the  commander  of  the  march 
to  the  sea.  I  have  never  considered  it  by  any 
means  the  most  meritorious  part  of  the  work  I 
was  permitted  to  take  a  hand  in  during  the  war. 
I  am  to  be  sure  deeply  sensible  of  the  value  our 
people  set  upon  it,  but  the  battles  and  campaigns 
it  fell  to  my  lot  to  conduct  previously  were,  I 
think,  better  tests  of  a  soldier's  abilities.' ' 

"  When  he  had  reached  Goldsborough,  North 
Carolina,  in  the  spring  of  1865,  it  was  thought 
advisable  for  him  to  visit  General  Grant's  head- 
quarters at  City  Point,  Virginia,  for  the  purpose 
of  a  consultation.  On  the  afternoon  of  March 


308          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM,   T.  SHERMAN. 

27th  the  steamer  which  brought  him  was  seen 
coming  up  the  James  River,  and  when  it  ap- 
proached the  wharf  General  Grant  started  from 
his  log  hut  on  the  bluff  to  greet  his  illustrious  com- 
panion in  arms.  They  met  at  the  foot  of  the  long 
flight  of  wooden  steps  which  led  down  to  the 
river.  It  was,  '  Why,  how  d'ye  do,  Sherman  ?' 
'  How  are  you,  Grant  ?'  And  then  a  cordial 
grasping  of  hands  and  more  familiar  terms  of 
greeting,  their  manner  being  more  like  that  of  two 
school-boys  encountering  after  a  vacation  than  the 
meeting  of  the  chief  actors  in  the  great  tragedy 
of  war. 

"  To  make  the  occasion  still  more  interesting, 
President  Lincoln  and  Admiral  Porter  were  both 
at  City  Point.  It  was  soon  arranged  that  Grant, 
Sherman  and  Porter  should  call  upon  the  Presi- 
dent, who  was  aboard  the  "  River  Queen,"  the 
steamer  which  had  brought  him  down  from  Wash- 
ington. In  the  after-cabin  of  that  vessel  was  held 
the  conference  between  these  magnates,  the  scene 
of  which  has  been  so  faithfully  transferred  to 
canvas  by  the  artist  Healy.  Sherman  there  gave 
a  most  graphic  description  of  the  stirring  events 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  309 

of  the  march  to  the  sea  ;  and  afterward,  in  answer 
to  eager  inquiiies  from  our  staff-officers  who 
collected  about  him  around  the  camp-fire,  he 
related  much  of  the  story  again.  Never  were 
listeners  more  enthusiastic  ;  never  was  a  speaker 
more  eloquent. 

"The  story  as  he  alone  could  tell  it,  was  a  grand 
epic  related  with  Homeric  power.  Mr.  Lincoln 
seemed  very  nervous  and  anxious  lest  something 
adverse  might  happen  to  Sherman's  command  in 
his  absence,  and  as  the  General  was  as  desirous 
as  any  one  to  return  and  push  his  operations  in 
the  field,  he  was  given  a  swifter  boat  than  the  one 
which  brought  him,  and  started  the  next  evening 
on  his  return. 

"A  novel  feature  of  Sherman's  command  was 
his  '  bummers.'  They  were  not  mere  stragglers 
and  self-constituted  foragers,  as  many  suppose, 
but  were  organized  for  a  very  useful  purpose 
from  the  adventurous  spirits  which  are  always 
found  in  the  ranks.  They  served  as  the  '  feelers,' 
who  kept  in  advance  of  the  main  columns,  spied 
out  the  land,  discovered  the  well-filled  granaries 
and  tempting  barn-yards  on  either  flank  of  the 


310          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

main  columns.  They  were  indispensable  in  sup- 
plying the  troops,  all  of  whom  were  compelled  to 
live  off  the  country,  and  in  destroying- the  enemy's 
means  of  transportation  and  communication.  The 
bummer  was  in  fact  a  regular  institution. 

"As  Sherman's  army  approached  Goldsborough, 
a  bummer  who  was  a  little  more  enterprising  than 
the  rest  was  found  up  a  telegraph  pole  cutting  the 
wires  of  one  of  our  military  telegraph  lines  run- 
ning out  from  Wilmington.  A  Union  officer 
yelled  at  him :  "  What  are  you  doing  there  ? 
You're  cutting  one  of  our  own  wires.'  The  man 
cast  an  indignant  look  at  the  questioner,  and  said, 
as  he  continued  his  work,  '  I'm  one  o'  Sherman's 
bummers,  and  the  last  thing  he  said  to  us  was, 
"  Be  sure  and  cut  all  the  telegraph  wires  you 
come  across,  and  don't  go  to  foolin'  away  time 
askin'  who  they  belong  to." 

u  Genera'l  Sherman,  as  a  subordinate,  gave  his 
chiefs  no  trouble  in  the  field  that  could  be  avoided. 
He  accepted  what  troops  and  supplies  the 
government  was  able  to  furnish  him,  and  did  the 
best  he  could  with  them  without  grumbling.  He 
cheerfully  employed  the  tools  placed  in  his 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  311 

hands,  and  was  satisfied.  He  never  demanded 
what  could  not  be  given  him.  He  was  too  much 
of  a  philosopher  to  expect  impossibilities.  The 
General  was  always  fond  of  talking  with  his  men 
as  they  filed  by  him  on  the  march.  As  Napoleon 
enjoyed  chatting  with  the  old  moustaches  of  his 
guard,  so  Sherman  loved  to  have  a  familiar  word 
with  his  veterans.  One  day  a  soldier  had  taken 
off  his  shoes  and  stockings,  and  rolled  up  his 
trousers  to  wade  across  a  creek.  As  the  General 
rode  by  he  was  attracted  by  the  magnificent  speci- 
men of  nether  limbs  exposed  to  view,  which 
might  have  served  as  models  for  a  classic  sculp- 
tor. 

"  '  A  good,  stout  pair  of  legs  you've  got  there, 
my  man,'  cried  Sherman. 

" '  Yes,  General,  they're  not  bad  underpinning,' 
replied  the  soldier. 

" '  I  wouldn't  mind  changing  mine  for  them,  if 
you  don't  object,'  added  Sherman. 

The  man  looked  at  his  commander's  legs, 
which  appeared  rather  thin  in  comparison,  then 
at  his  own,  and  finally  said,  'General,  I  guess  we 
can't  make  a  swap.' 


812          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

"If  General  Sherman  manifested  at  times 
something  of  the  irritability  of  a  Hotspur,  and, 
like  the  soldier  in  the  'Seven  Ages/  was  'jeal- 
ous in  honor,  sudden  and  quick  in  quarrel,'  it 
was  because  he  possessed  a  sensitive  nature,  was 
conscious  of  the  honesty  of  his  purposes,  and 
could  not  brook  misrepresentation  and  affront. 
When  he  was  given  a  command  in  Kentucky,  he 
saw  with  his  keen  military  foresight  that  the  pro- 
visions made  for  troops  were  grossly  inadequate 
for  the  work  before  them,  and  declared  that  Ken- 
tucky ought  to  have  at  once  60,000  men,  and  that 
it  would  require  200,000  to  suppress  the  rebellion 
in  that  region.  He  urged  his  views  with  such 
persistency,  and  resented  the  harsh  criticisms 
made  upon  him  with  such  vigor,  that  he  was  called 
a  crank,  and  charged  with  being  insane,  and  finally 
deprived  of  his  command.  Subsequent  events 
proved  him  to  be  a  true  prophet. 

"Immediately  after  the  surrender  of  Lee,  Sher- 
man entered  into  a  correspondence  in  perfect 
good  faith  with  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  the 
commander  of  the  forces  confronting  him,  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  about  immediate  peace,  and  . 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  313 

made  a  memorandum  of  agreement,  which  in- 
cluded in  the  terms  of  capitulation  all  the  Con- 
federate troops  remaining  in  the  field.  It  an- 
nounced in  general  terms  that  the  war  was  to 
cease,  a  general  amnesty  was  to  be  granted,  as 
far  as  the  Executive  of  the  United  States  could 
command  it,  on  condition  of  the  disbandment  of 
the  Confederate  army,  and  provided  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  arms  and  the  resumption  of  peaceful 
pursuits  by  the  officers  and  men  heretofore  com- 
posing said  armies  ;  but  it  was  distinctly  stipulated 
that  as  the  two  Generals  who  signed  the  agree- 
ment were  not  empowered  by  their  principals  to 
fulfill  the  terms,  they  could  only  pledge  them- 
selves to  promptly  obtain  authority,  and  to  en- 
deavor to  carry  out  the  programme  as  arranged. 
With  Sherman  it  was  an  honest  effort  on  the  part 
of  a  humane  commander  to  try  and  put  an  end 
to  the  war  at  once. 

41  When  this  paper  was  forwarded  to  Washing- 
ton, it  reached  there  just  after  the  assassination 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  when  public  feeling  was  every- 
where intensely  excited. 

"  The  Secretary  of  War  at  once  repudiated  the 


314          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

terms,  rebuked  and  censured  Sherman  in  a  pub- 
lished communication,  charging  him  with  exceed- 
ing his  authority,  impeaching  his  motives,  and 
putting  forth  insinuations  which  were  calculated 
to  incense  any  one  who  had  a  proper  regard  for 
his  reputation. 

"  Sherman  felt  that  his  feelings  had  been  out- 
raged, not  because  his  agreement  had  been  dis- 
approved, but  on  account  of  the  offensive  nature 
of  the  public  rebuke. 

"  He  soon  after  entered  Washington  at  the  head 
of  his  army,  receiving  a  greeting  from  the  popu- 
lace which  might  have  ranked  with  the  triumph 
of  a  Roman  conqueror.  There  he  met  Secre- 
tary Stanton,  but  smarting  under  a  sense  of  in- 
sult, he  refused  to  give  him  his  hand,  and  turned 
his  back  upon  him.  But  notwithstanding  the  bit- 
terness of  his  resentment  at  the  time,  he  and  Mr. 
Stanton  became  fully  reconciled  before  the  latter's 
death. 

"  His  writings  were  as  graphic  as  Caesar's  Com- 
mentaries. There  was  in  his  compositions  an  el- 
gance  of  diction  seldom  found  except  in  the 
works  of  professional  authors.  He  has  contrib- 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  316 

uted  some  of  the  finest  specimens  of  rhetoric  to 
be  found  in  modern  books.  In  his  description  of 
the  departure  of  the  troops  from  Atlanta,  given 
in  his  mem.oirs,  his  style  rises  to  the  sublime. 

"As  a  speaker  the  same  qualities  of  style  may 
be  observed  in  his  more  serious  efforts.  For 
instance,  his  reference  to  the  flag  in  an  address 
made  at  a  banquet  to  the  veterans : 

"  'The  prayer  that  every  soldier  ought  to  breathe 
is  that  yonder  flag  should  be  above  him  in  life, 
around  him  in  death.  What  is  that  flag?  A  bit  of 
bunting,  a  bauble,  a  toy.  You  can  buy  it  for  a 
few  shillings  in  the  nearest  store.  But  once  raise 
it  as  your  standard,  and  millions  will  follow  it  and 
die  under  it.  Insult  it,  and  a  whole  nation  of 
patriots  will  rise  up  in  its  defence,  and  you  will 
find  behind  it  all  the  power  that  can  be  wielded  by 
the  republic.' 

"  The  General  often  fell  into  a  jocose  strain. 
Then  there  was  a  relaxing  of  the  stern  features, 
a  merry  twinkle  of  the  eye,  and  a  display  of  wit 
and  humor  that  '  set  the  table  in  a  roar.' 

"  At  a  meeting  in  support  of  the  Actors'  Fund  of 
America,  held  in  Palmer's  Theatre  in  June  last, 


316          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

the  General  being  called  out,  stepped  to  the 
front  of  the  stage,  and  began  by  saying  :  '  I  con- 
.fess  I  feel  strange  up  here  in  such  a  presence.  If 
the  gentleman  who  has  my  favorite  seat  in  the 
orchestra  will  kindly  give  it  up  and  come  up  here 
and  take  my  place,  I  will  cheerfully  go  to  the  box 
office  and  pay  $1.50  for  my  old  seat.'  Afterward 
he  astonished  the  audience  by  the  statement  that 
the  theatrical  profession  ought  to  feel  indebted  to 
him  because  he  had  once  saved  Joe  Jefferson's 
life;  and  then  went  on  to  say:  'Joe  Jefferson 
called  on  me  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  and  after 
he  had  left  I  saw  a  roll  of  paper  under  the  chair 
he  had  occupied.  I  ran  after  him  and  cried, 
"Joe,  did  you  drop  this  roll  of  paper?"  He 
turned  to  me  with  a  look  full  of  joy.  "  My  God, 
Sherman,  you  have  saved  my  life  !  "  "  What  do 
you  mean  ?  How  have  I  saved  your  life  ?  "  "  Why," 
replied  Jefferson,  with  that  familiar  twinkle  in  his 
eye,  "  I  am  publishing  my  life,  and  that  is  the  first 
chapter.'  " 

"  After  having  listened  to  nearly  all  of  General 
Sherman's  speeches  during  the  last  six  years,  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  ranking  him  second  to  no  one  . 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  317 

as  an  after-dinner  speaker.  While  the  prestige  of 
his  illustrious  name  intensified  the.  interest  felt  in 
what  he  said,  yet  I  believe  that  if  he  had  appeared 
at  any  banquet  unheralded  and  unknown,  and 
clelivered  one  of  his  characteristic  addresses,  it 
would  have  been  conceded  that  his  speech  was 
the  hit  of  the  evening.  He  had  the  art  of  begin- 
ning with  some  epigrammatic  sentence  or  humor- 
ous allusion  to  some  current  topic,  spoken  in  a  way 
which  at  once  secured  the  attention  of  the 
audience.  He  mingled  wit  and  pathos  in  a  happy 
blending  which  appealed  to  all  minds  and  touched 
all  hearts.  As  eloquence  is  only  another  name 
for  earnestness,  his  serious  utterances  had  all  the 
power  of  the  finest  oratory.  He  leaned  forward, 
gesticulated  forcibly  with  his  long  right  arm, 
looked  his  hearers  full  in  the  eyes,  and  seemed  to 
be  speaking  into  the  particular  ears  of  each  indi- 
vidual before  him.  As  a  talker  he  deserved  to  be 
ranked  among  the  great  conversers  of  history, 
and,  unlike  many  gifted  conversationalists,  he 
possessed  the  rare  faculty  of  being  a  good  listener. 
Even  in  the  midst  of  one  of  his  most  animated 
recitals,  if  some  one  interrupted  him  to  add  a 


318          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

remark,  he  would  stop,  look  at  him  good-naturedly, 
and  nod  approval.  His  lips,  too,  would  often 
move  in  unison  with  the  speaker's,  as  if  'marking 
time '  to  the  music  of  his  words. 

"The  General's  education  at  West  Point,  which* 
taught  drawing  and  painting,  gave  him  a  knowl- 
edge of  proportion  and  coloring,  and  cultivated  a 
taste  for  art  which  created  in  him  a  great  fondness 
for  pictures  and  sculpture.  This  was  largely 
increased  by  the  opportunities  he  enjoyed  in  after 
years  in  his  visit  to  the  art  centres  of  foreign 
lands.  His  criticisms  on  art  were  very  positive 
and  decided.  1  was  much  amused  one  day,  when 
talking  to  General  Grant  while  a  sculptor  was 
modeling  his  bust  in  clay,  to  see  General  Sher- 
man come  into  the  room  and  begin  a  vigorous 
discussion  with  the  artist  as  to  the  truthfulness  of 
the  resemblance.  In  his  nervous,  off-hand,  rattling 
manner,  he  criticised  one  feature  after  another, 
insisting  on  a  little  more  prominence  here  and  a 
little  less  there,  and  running  his  fingers  over  por- 
tions of  the  moist  clay  to  put  his  suggestions  into 
effect.  Finally,  in  his  enthusiasm,  he  actually 
seized  a  tool  out  of  the  artist's  hand,  and  was 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  319 

about  to  scrape  off  what  he  deemed  a  too  prom- 
inent projection  of  the  cheek,  when  the  terrified 
artist,  upon  whose  face  the  cold  perspiration  had 
broken  out,  stayed  the  hand  of  the  ruthless 
amateur,  and  brought  him  to  such  a  realizing 
sense  of  the  comicality  of  the  scene  that  he  joined 
heartily  in  the  laugh  which  followed. 

"The  last  farewells  have  now  been  spoken,  the 
laurel  which  crowned  the  hero's  brow  is  inter- 
twined with  the  cypress,  the  flag  he  had  so 
often  upheld  has  dropped  to  half-mast,  the  boom- 
ing of  his  guns  has  given  place  to  the  tolling  of 
cathedral  bells,  and  American  hearts  are  op- 
pressed with  a  sense  of  sadness  which  is  akin  to 
the  sorrow  of  a  personal  bereavement." 


320          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 


SHERMAN  AND  THE  EDITORS.* 

A/TR.  H.  L.  PRIDDY,  an  old  time  Memphis 
journalist,  is  one  of  the  men  who  regret 
the  death  of  General  Sherman.  He  and  D.  A. 
Brower,  now  editor  of  the  Little  Rock  Gazette, 
were  publishing  the  Argus  in  Memphis  during 
the  time  that  Gerieral  Sherman  was  in  command 
there,  and  they  had  several  rather  exciting  expe- 
riences with  him. 

Mr.  Priddy  says  of  him :  "  He  was  a  sure 
enough  soldier  and  a  gentleman ;  knew  how  to 
treat  the  people,  what  favors  to  extend,  and  where 
to  draw  the  line.  The  Argus  was  the  only  paper 
published  in  Memphis  then.  The  Appeal  was 
scurrying  over  the  country  in  a  box  car  avoiding 
the  Yankees.  Brower  and  I  had  to  simulate  a 
degree  of  loyalty,  but  whenever  we  got  a  chance 
we  cheered  the  stars  and  bars. 

"General  Sherman  gave  us  considerable  lati- 

*  From  the  New  Orleans  Times-  Union. 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  321 

tude,  but  we  finally  went  too  far,  and  he  called 
us  down.  He  did  it  in  a  gentlemanly,  sociable 
way,  however,  that  didn't  wound  our  feelings.  He 
galloped  up  to  the  office  one  day  at  noon,  threw 
the  bridle  rein  of  his  big  black  stallion  to  an 
orderly,  and  strode  into  the  editorial  room.  A 
crowd  of  citizens  gathered  on  the  other  side  of  the 
street  and  mourned  for  the  fate  of  the  newspaper 
and  the  editors.  I  think  they  had  an  idea  that 
Sherman  was  going  to  amputate  our  heads  and 
all  the  forms,  but  he  didn't.  '  He  sat  down  and  rest- 
ing his  feet  on  the  table,  said :  '  Boys  [we  were 
both  youngsters],  I  have  been  ordered  to  suppress 
your  paper,  but  I  don't  like  to  do  that.  I  just 
dropped  in  to  warn  you  not  to  be  so  free  with 
your  pencils.  If  you  don't  ease  up,  you'll  get  in 
trouble.' 

"  We  promised  to  reform,  and  as  the  General 
seemed  so  pleasant  and  friendly,  I  asked  him  if  he 
couldn't  do  something  to  increase  the  circulation 
of  currency.  There  was  no  small  change,  and  we 
had  to  use  soda-water  checks  issued  by  a  confec- 
tioner named  Lane.  We  dropped  soda-water 
checks  in  the  contribution  box  at  church,  paid  for 
21 


322          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

straight  whiskey  with  them,  and  received  them  for 
money.  If  Lane  had  closed  his  shop  the  checks 
would  have  been  worthless. 

"  General  Sherman  comprehended  the  situation 
and  quick  as  a  flash  said :  '  You  need  a  medium 
of  exchange  that  has  an  intrinsic  value.  Cotton 
is  king  here.  Make  cotton  your  currency.  It  is 
worth  $i  a  pound.  Make  packages  containing  eight 
ounces  represent  5ocents,  four  ounces  25  cents, and 
so  on.  Cotton  is  the  wealth  of  the  South  right  now. 
Turn  it  into  money.'  '  But  the  money-drawers 
would  not  hold  such  bulky  currency,'  said  I. 
'Make  'em  larger,'  said  the  General,  and  with  that 
he  strode  off  As  he  mounted  his  horse  and 
galloped  away  "he  shook  his  whip  at  Brower  and 
me  and  shouted  :  '  You  boys  had  better  be  care- 
ful what  you  write  or  I  will  be  down  on  you.' " 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  323 


BY  HON.  CHAUNCEY  M.  DHPEW. 

SHERMAN,  after  he  came  to 


New  York,  was  at  once  the  most  distin- 
guished and  delightful  figure  in  our  metropolitan 
society.  He  seemed  to  have  a  most  elastic 
constitution,  and  endured  an  amount  of  social 
obligation  which  would  hav6  tired  out  and  used 
up  many  a  younger  and  stronger  man.  He 
loved  to  be.  in  the  company  of  men  and  women. 
I  think  he  dined  out  every  night  of  his  life,  and 
very  often  he  would  be  found  at  late  suppers, 
especially  theatrical  suppers. 

"  He  is,  easily,  at  any  table,  at  the  head  where- 
ever  he  sits,  and  has  a  wonderful  faculty  for 
entertaining  conversation.  No  person  ever  heard 
him  say  a  disagreeable  thing.  With  the  most 
positive,  pronounced  and  aggressive  opinions  on 
all  questions,  and  never  concealing  them,  he  so 
states  them  as  never  to  offend  an  adversary. 
His  attention  to  ladies  is  a  most  delightful 


324         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   f.  SHERMAN. 

exhibition  of  knightly  and  soldierly  courtesy. 
There  is  in  his  manner  and  speech  something 
of  deference,  respect  and  admiration,  which 
conveys  a  more  signal  compliment  than  can  be 
wrought  in  phrase  or  flattery.  At  a  night  sup- 
per where  the  guests  were  mostly  theatrical 
people  he  was  in  his  joyous  hilarity  like  a  boy. 
In  the  speech  which  he  invariably  made  there 
was  much  of  the  fatherly  feeling  of  an  old  man 
rejoicing  in  the  artistic  success  of  his  auditors, 
and  to  those  who  deserved  it,  whether  actors  or 
actresses,  a  neatly  turned  compliment  which 
expressed  all  that  a  trained  dramatic  critic  could 
say,  and  became  in  the  recollection  of  the  happy 
recipient  the  best  memory  of  his  or  her  life. 

"  I  have  been  with  him  at  hundreds  of  public 
dinners,  and  in  studying  close  his  mental  methods 
and  habits  of  speech,  have  come  to  regard 
him  as  the  readiest  and  most  original  talker  in 
the  United  States.  I  don't  believe  that  he  ever 
made  the  slightest  preparation,  but  he  absorbed, 
apparently  while  thinking  and  while  carrying  on  a 
miscellaneous  conversation  with  those  about  him, 
the  spirit  of  the  occasion,  and  his  speech,  when  he 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  325 

finished,  seemed  to  be  as  much  of  a  surprise  to 
himself  as  it  was  to  the  audience,  and  the  work 
of  a  superior  and  exceedingly  active  intelligence 
which  included  him  as  well  as  the  rest  among  its 
auditors. 

"  Most  men,  and  I  have  met  several,  who  had 
this  faculty,  were  cans  of  dynamite,  whose  ex- 
plosion was  almost  certain  to  produce  most 
disastrous  results.  But  General  Sherman  rarely 
failed  in  striking  out  a  line  of  thought  different 
from  and  more  original  than  any  other  speaker, 
and  in  sometimes  giving  utterance  to  the  boldest 
thought,  yet  always  in  harmony  with  the  oc- 
casion. 

"  I  recall  the  last  two  times  that  I  met  him  as 
especially  significant  of  his  conversational  talent 
and  power  of  public  speech  on  a  sudden  call.  I 
sat  near  him  at  the  dinner  given  in  his  honor  by 
ex-Chief  Justice  Daley  about  one  month  ago. 
General  Sherman  rarely  talked  about  himself,  but . 
on  this  occasion  he  became  reminiscent  and 
entertained  us  for  more  than  an  hour  with  free- 
hand sketches  of  his  adventures  on  the  plains  in 
early  years,  and  of  the  original  people  whom  he 


326          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

met  among  the  early  settlers.  These  recol- 
lections, if  taken  down  at  the  moment,  would 
have  proved  an  invaluable  contribution  to  the 
history  of  the  period  covering  the  growth  of 
transportation  on  the  plains,  from  the  wagon  to 
the  railroad,  and  the  story  of  the  bold  and  ad- 
venturous spirits  who  were  the  pioneers  of  West- 
ern civilization,  many  of  whom  he  knew  per- 
sonally. 

"  The  last  time  I  met  him  he  promised,  after 
a  dinner  to  which  he  was  engaged,  to  do  me  the 
favor,  though  he  said  it  was  asking  a  good  deal  at 
his  time  of  life,  to  come  to  the  Yale  Alumni 
Association  dinner  and  say  a  word  to  the  guests. 
His  appearance'there  about  half-past  eleven  was  an 
event  which  the  Alumni  of  Yale  who  were  pres- 
ent, most  of  whom  were  young  men  who  had 
never  seen  him  before,  will  remember  as  long  as 
they  live. 

"  I  have  felt  for  many  years  that  in  the  interests 
of  the  period  during  which  he  was  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  actors,  and  with  one  exception 
the  most  conspicuous,  that  he  always  ought  to 
have  been  accompanied  by  a  stenographer. 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  327 

"  I  have  known  most  of  the  men  who  have 
been  famous  in  the  country,  in  every  walk  in  life, 
in  the  last  twenty-five  years  sufficiently  well  to 
hear  them  frequently  talk  in  a  free  and  confiden- 
tial way.  General  Sherman  was  one  of  the  few 
who  never  bore  you,  whose  conversation  is 
always  interesting,  and  no  matter  how  long  he 
talked,  he  leaves  you  hungry  and  eager  for  more. 
I  was  with  him  at  the  time  I  delivered  the^oration 
before  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  at  Saratoga.  I 
was  with  him  from  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning 
until  six  in  the  afternoon,  and  he  talked  without 
cessation  for  the  whole  period.  It  was  a  test  few 
men  could  have  stood,  and  the  three  others  who 
were  with  him  in  the  carriage  only  regretted  that 
the  day  was  limited  by  the  light. 

"General  Sherman  lived  so  much  in  the  full 
blaze  of  publicity  that  there  is  little  which  can  be 
added  to  the  story  of  his  life  except  the  personal 
incidents  he  was  accustomed  to  narrate  in  con- 
versations with  his  friends,  which  shed  a  strong 
light  upon  the  history  of  the  times  in  which  he 
was  such  a  prominent  actor.  He  was  the  only 
man  I  ever  met  who  I  thought  could  have  not 


328          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

only  survived  but  had  his  fame  increased  by  the 
constant  attendance  of  a  Boswell. 

."A  story  he  told  me  in  reference  to  the  famous 
campaign  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea  would  seem  by 
indirect  evidence  to  settle  the  vexed  question  as 
to  who  planned  that  great  campaign.  Sherman's 
loyalty  to  his  superior  officers  and  to  the  Presi- 
dent was  such  that  he  never  publicly  made  any 
claims  in  regard  to  any  of  his  movements  for  him- 
self. He  said  that  he  had  been  fairly  importuning 
the  President,  the  Secretary  of  War  and  General 
Grant  to  permit  him  to  swing  loose  from  his  base 
of  operations,  and  march  across  the  country  to 
the  Atlantic.  He  believed  that  there  was  no 
enemy  before  him  strong  enough  to  resist  an 
army  as  large  and  perfectly  disciplined  as  that 
which  he  commanded.  He  also  felt  assured  that 
by  sweeping  through  that  country  he  would  cut 
off  the  food  and  forage  which  supported  the 
armies  of  Johnston  and  of  Lee.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  afraid  he  would  lose  his  army.  Stanton  had 
little  or  no  faith  in  the  movement,  and  while  Grant 
believed  that  Sherman  was  right,  the  staff  in- 
fluences about  him  were  hostile  to  General  Sher- 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES. 


329 


man.  One  day,  however,  Sherman  received  a 
telegram  from  Mr.  Lincoln  and  one  from  Secre- 
tary Stanton  which  substantially  gave  him  discre- 
tion. He  instantly  sent  an  officer  and  a  detach- 
ment of  cavalry  with  orders  to  tear  down  the 
wires  for  fifty  miles  between  Atlanta  and  Wash- 
ington. He  said  that  long  after  the  war  he 
discovered  that  an  effort  was  made  to  countermand 
the  march,  but  the  officer  reported  that  the  rebels 
had  cut  the  communications. 

"  He  told  me  an  interesting  story  about  a  prom- 
inent citizen  of  Savannah  who  came  to  his  head- 
quarters after  he  had  captured  that  city.  The 
gentleman  was  in  great  trepidation  and  informed 
the  General  that  he  had  some  valuable  pictures  in 
his  house.  The  General  said  they  were  entirely 
safe.  He  said  he  also  had  a  collection  of  family 
plate  of  great  intrinsic  value,  and,  on  account  of 
its  associations,  very  precious  to  him  and  his 
family.  The  General  told  him  he  would  put  a 
guard  about  his  house  if  necessary.  Then,  in  a 
burst  of  frank  confidence,  produced  by  this  gener- 
ous response  to  his  fears,  he  revealed  to  General 
Sherman  that  he  had  buried  in  his  back-yard  a 


330         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

large  quantity  of  priceless  Madeira,  of  the  oldest 
and  rarest  vintages,  and  estimated  to  be  worth 
over  $40,000  before  the  war.  The  General  re- 
sponded at  once,  'That  is  medicine,  and  confis- 
cated to  the  hospital.'  What  the  hospital  did  not 
need  he  distributed  among  the  troops.  But  much 
marching  and  fighting  had  produced  in  the  boys 
an  appetite  more  vigorous  than  that  which  recog- 
nizes the  bouquet  of  1815  Madeira  at  a  New- 
York  club  or  dinner-table,  and  they'  willingly 
exchanged  a  bottle  of  Madeira  for  a  gill  of 
whiskey. 

"General  Sherman  was  fully  informed  of  the 
movements  of  Jefferson  Davis,  and  in  a  position 
to  put  his  hand  upon  and  arrest  him  at  almost 
any  time  after  Davis  left  Richmond.  He  consulted 
Mr.  Lincoln  as  to  what  he  would  better  do,  saying 
to  the  President  that  he  did  not  know  but  what 
he,  the  President,  would  be  relieved  by  not  having 
the  President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  on 
his  hands,  and  asking  for  instructions.  President 
Lincoln's  instructions  were  given  in  this  form: 
'Sherman,  many  years  ago,  up  in  Illinois,  I  knew  a 
temperance  lecturer  who  had  been  an  habitual 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  331 

drunkard.  He  met  on  an  anniversary  occasion  a 
number  of  his  old  boon  companions.  They  were 
urging  him  to  celebrate  it  with  them  in  the  usual 
way,  and  he  finally  said:  'Boys,  I  must  stick  to  my 
principles,  but  if  you  could  get  some  whiskey  into 
my  water  unbeknownst  to  me  I  might  join  you!' 

"The  General  after  that  made  no  effort  to  cap- 
ture Jefferson  Davis,  and  regretted  that  he  did 
not  reach  the  schooner  in  which  he  was  intending 
an  escape  to  Cuba,  because  once  out  of  the  coun- 
try he  never  could  have  returned,  and  when 
arrested  the  difficulty  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  antic- 
ipated arose,  and  the  situation  was  only  solved 
by  Horace  Greeley  becoming  his  bondsman. 

"The  General  told  me  another  interesting  story 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  which  brings  out  in  a  very  clear 
light  the  humanity  which  was  the  dominating  ele- 
ment of  his  character.  After  Sherman  had 
reached  the  boundary  line  between  North  Caro- 
lina and  Virginia  his  army  was  spread  out  over 
the  railway  and  roads  leading  from  Richmond 
south.  The  General  said  to  the  President  that 
there  were  two  ways  open  for  his  army — one  to 
remain  where  it  was  and  compel  the  surrender  of 


332          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

Lee's  forces,  after  Grant  had  driven  them  out  of 
Richmond,  by  c'utting  off  their  supplies  and  means 
of  escape;  the  other  to  join  General  Grant  and 
crush  the  Confederate  forces  at  once.  Lincoln's 
answer  was  decisive  and  peremptory:  'Take  the 
course  which  will  shed  the  least  blood.' 

"I  heard  General  Sherman  once  narrate  a  very 
striking  battle  incident.  He  had  rallied  his  troops 
and  led  them  to  a  charge  which  was  everywhere 
successful.  As  he  rode  into  the  enemy's  camp,  he 
saw  a  soldier  lying  on  a  barrow  and  an  officer 
standing  over  him  with  an  uplifted  knife.  He 
shouted  to  the  officer  not  to  strike,  and  spurred 
up  to  the  group  to  discover  that  the  men  were 
both  dead;  the  only  solution  being  that  the  offi- 
cer, who  was  a  surgeon,  was  in  the  act  of  per- 
forming an  operation  for  the  extraction  of  a  bullet 
upon  the  soldier  when  the  concussion  of  a  cannon- 
ball  passing  near  them  had  killed  them  both,  and 
they  had  stiffened  in  the  attitude  they  occupied  at 
the  moment  when  their  lives  went  out. 

"As  General  Sherman  was  riding  one  day  with 
his  staff  on  the  march  through  Georgia,  they  came 
upon  an  old  planter  sitting  upon  his  front  piazza, 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  333 

and  they  rode  in  for  a  drink  of  water.  The  old 
gentleman  said:  'General,  I  saw  on  one  of  the 
regimental  flags,  the  looth  Iowa.  The  last  I 
heard  of  Iowa  it  was  an  uninhabited  territory. 
Has  that  got  a  hundred  regiments  of  I,OOQ  men 
each  in  your  army  now?' 

"'Yes.' 

"'Well,  said  the  old  planter,  'if  Iowa  has  got 
100  regiments  in  your  army  and  the  rest  of  your 
States  have  sent  regiments  in  proportion,  you 
must  have  more  than  a  million.  We  better  give 
up  at  cnce.' ' 


334          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 


BY  PRESIDENT  HARRISON.* 

'  /7P*HE  death  of  William  Tecumseh  Sherman,  is 
an  event  that  will  bring  sorrow  to  the  heart 
of  every  patriotic  citizen.  No  living  American 
was  so  loved  and  venerated  as  he.  To  look  upon 
his  face,  to  hear  his  name,  was  to  have  one's  love 
of  country  intensified.  He  served  his  country  not 
for  fame,  not  out  of  a  sense  of  professional  duty, 
but  for  love  of  the  flag  and  of  the  beneficent  civil 
institutions  of  which  it  was  the  emblem. 

"He  was  an  ideal  soldier,  and  shared  to  the 
fullest  the  esprit  du  corps  of  the  army,  but  he 
cherished  the  civil  institutions  organized  under  the 
Constitution,  and  was  only  a  soldier  that  these 
might  be  perpetuated  in  undiminished  usefulness 
and  honor.  He  was  in  nothing  an  imitator.  A 

*  In  response  to  our  letter  to  President  Harrison  to  furnish  a 
contribution  for  this  book,  he  writes  that  it  would  be  a  labor  of  love 
for  him  to  do  so,  but  on  account  of  pressing  public  duties  it  would 
be  impossible.  But  he  sends  us  the  tribute  above. 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  335 

profound  student  of  military  science  and  pre- 
cedent, he  drew  from  them  principles  and  sugges- 
tions and  so  adapted  them  to  novel  conditions 
that  his  campaigns  will  continue  to  be  the 
profitable  study  of  the  military  profession  through- 
out the  world.  His  genial  nature  made  him 
comrade  to  every  soldier  of  the  great  Union 
Army.  No  presence  was  so  welcome  and  inspir- 
ing at  the  camp  fire  or  commander}'  as  his.  His 
career  was  complete ;  his  honors  were  full. 
He  had  received  from  the  Government  the 
highest  rank  known  to  our  military  establishment, 
and  from  the  people  unstinted  gratitude  and 
love." 


336          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 


BY  REV.  T.  DEWITT  TALMAGE,  D.D. 

"  r  I  ^HE  century  had  no  grander  soul  to  surrender 
into  the  eternities  than  the  one  who  yester- 
day sped  away  from  us,     Frank,  honest,  brilliant 
gallant,  patriotic  William  T.  Sherman  ! 

"  I  thank  God  that  I  ever  knew  him,  that  I  ever 
felt  the  hearty  grip  of  his  right  hand  and  had  the 
friendship  of  his  great  big  heart.  I  have  no 
interest  in  the  question  being  agitated  as  to 
whether  he  was  Protestant  or  Catholic.  I  heard 
his  profession  of  faith  on  a  memorable  occasion 
and  under  peculiar  circumstances.  In  New  York, 
at  the  New  England  Society  dinner  three  years 
ago,  I  sat  with  him  four  hours.  He  on  one  side 
and  the  immortal  and  lamented  Henry  W.  Grady, 
of  Georgia,  on  the  other.  We  were  all  to  make 
addresses,  but  there  was  time  for  a  conversation 
that  will  be  precious  while  memory  lasts.  There 
and  then,  while  the  merriment  of  the  occasion 
filled  the  air,  he  expressed  to  me  his  respect  for 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  337 

the  religion  which  his  now  ascended  wife  had 
embraced,  and  his  own  faith  in  God  and  his  confi- 
dence for  the  future. 

"  Simple  as  a  child,  brave  as  a  lion,  sympathetic 
as  a  woman,  firm  as  a  rock,  wrathful  as  a  tempest 
when  aroused  against  wrong,  lovely  as  a  June 
morning  among  his  friends — how  can  we  give  him 
up  ?  But  God  knows  best." 


22 


338          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 


BY  COLONEL  GEORGE  A.  KNIGHT. 

"\TOT  many  days  ago  our  drooping  banner  sor- 
rowfully reminded  us  that  the  king  was  dead. 
Within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  this  spot  royalty 
was  stricken  by  the  hand  of  death.  It  was  some- 
thing uncommon  in  a  country  like  ours,  founded 
upon  principles  that  hardly  knew  what  royalty 
meant,  and  yet  within  the  education  of  our  people 
we  found  the  spirit  of  community  and  that  fealty 
to  the  law  of  nations  that  told  us  intuitively  that 
we  should  deal  with  the  dead  monarch  in  a  spirit 
that  became  us  as  a  people,  and  the  swift-keeled 
messenger  from  our  navy  carried  to  the  inviting 
clime  all  that  was  left  of  the  sovereign,  all  that  was 
left  of  ^royalty.  We  hardly  understood  what  it 
meant,  because  we  were  not  educated  to  believe 
in  a  divine  right  of  kings,  and  were  not  educated 
up  to  the  historical  eminence  that  such  a  fact 
would  have  in  other  countries.  Here  the  sovereign 
never  dies  ;  the  sovereignty  is  with  the  people,  and 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  339 

no  matter  how  great,  no  matter  how  common  the 
man  may  be,  he  belongs  to  that  Government  of 
the  people,  for  the  people  and  by  the  people ' 
which  creates  a  sovereignty  that  shall  never  perish 
from  the  earth. 

"  In  times  like  these,  when  we  are  met  to  com- 
memorate, to  calmly  deliberate  upon,  met  to  think 
over  the  services  of  one  who  might  have  been  a 
king  had  he  lived  elsewhere,  it  is  only  then  that 
we  comprehend  how  great,  how  pure,  how 
broad  are  the  principles  of  this  Government,  in 
which  men  like  Lincoln,  men  like  Grant,  men  like 
Sheridan  and  men  like  Sherman  may  pass 
from  this  stage  of  action  and  not  be  credited 

o 

with  having  within  their  veins  the  blood  of  royalty 
and  be  deemed  by  their  people  sovereigns.  The 
Government  of  this  country  is  founded  upon  prin- 
ciples which  teach  and  promulgate  that  all  men 
are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their 
Creator  with  inalienable  rights.  And  where  do  we 
get  those  principles  ?  And  from  what  source  do 
we  receive  that  teaching  ?  Over  1 800  years  ago 
there  stood  by  the  sea  of  Galilee  a  poor,  wayfaring 
Nazarene,  with  his  humanity  and  divinity  ever 


340          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

pointing  to  the  diamond  of  a  pure  faith,  not  seek- 
ing the  titled  nobility  for  his  constant  companions, 
but  the  honest,  sun-tanned  fisherman,  and  with 
these  men  he  taught  the  lesson  to  the  world  that 
all  men  were  created  equal  and  had  to  be  equal 
before  the  blessings  of  his  Father  would  come 
upon  them.  Thus  it  is  that  we  have  kings  among 
us,  and  show  to  the  civilized  world  the  perfection 
and  high  standard  of  our  American  institutions. 
With  us  a  sovereign  never  dies. 

"  To  day  we  are  met  to  think  over,  as  individuals, 
the  services  of  one  who  has  done  much  to  help 
forward  the  civilization  of  our  present  day.  I 
don't  believe  in  dealing  with  the  individualities  of 
the  time.  I  don't  believe  that  we  can  comprehend 
what  our  present  and  what  our  past  has  been  and 
the  wonderful  effect  that  it  will  have  in  years  to 
come  upon  the  people  who  may  follow  us.  I  look 
upon  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  of  this 
Nation,  not  as  an  organization  where  individual 
members  are  known  and  can  be  called  by  name, 
because  in  a  few  years  they  will  be  gone;  their 
names  will  be  forgotten.  But  the  great  fact  that 
such  an  organization  existed  will  never  be  obliter- 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  341 

ated  from  the  history  of  mankind.  While  we  may 
view  those  who  were  high  in  military  circles,  and 
while  we  may  be  mindful  of  their  services,  the 
time  will  come  when  the  services  they  rendered 
will  overcome  their  individuality  and  they  will  be 
known  only  in  their  works. 

"When  we  think  of  the  great  subjects,  when  we 
think  of  the  great  problems  and  the  great  prin- 
ciples that  were  submitted  to  those  in  charge  of 
this  Nation  in  the  days  of  Grant,  Sherman, 
Sheridan  and  Lincoln,  we  are  almost  overcome 
with  the  ponderous  thoughts*  that  arise  in  their 
consideration.  To-day,  can  you  imagine  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  in  the  White  House  at  Washington 
in  the  days  of  1861  looking  over  the  Potomac  and 
wondering  if  this  Nation  was  to  live  or  not?  Can 
you  see  him,  solitary  and  alone,  almost  unsupport- 
ed, with  his  eyes  streaming  over  the  river,  and 
the  only  hope  he  had  was  in  the  patriotism  of 
Grant,  the  dash  of  Sherman  and  the  fighting  pro- 
pensities of  Hooker  and  Sheridan?  How  could 
he  have  given  us  peace  without  those  great  factors 
who  helped  him  to  success  ?  It  is,  therefore,  not 
with  men  that  we  propose  to  deal,  but  with  those 


342         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

facts    and    principles    which     have    brought    us 
here.  - 

"  Of  General  Sherman  much  can  be  said.  No 
living  man  has  had  more  written  of  him  ;  no  living 
man  has  come  so  to  the  fireside  of  every  family  in 
the  land ;  no  living  General  has  been  so  before 
the  people ;  no  one  has  inspired  by  his  example 
more  than  this  man,  whose  successes  and  achieve- 
ments we  to-day  reverence  and  admire.  I  speak 
of  him  as  a  Californian.  We  must  remember  that 
he  was  educated  at  West  Point.  By  his  early 
education  he  was  trained  as  a  strict  disciplinarian, 
in  a  school  where  decorum  and  everything  that 
goes  to  make  up  a  true  soldier  were  rigidly 
required ;  and  yet  we  find  him  here  in  California 
as  a  pioneer.  Many  of  you,  no  doubt,  remember 
him — many  of  you  remember  him  as  a  successful 
business  man,  a  banker  and  a  true  civilian.  It 
might  seem  impossible  that  he  could  ever  forget  his 
discipline  and  mingle  with  the  people  in  a  genial 
way,  but  he  .showed  that  he  had  another  side  to 
his  character  beside  that  of  the  mere  soldier.  He 
was  in  Louisiana  when  the  flag  was  assailed,  when 
the  mutterings  of  treason  were  abroad  in  the  land. 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  343 

He  did  not  stop  to  consider  whether  he  himself 
should  be  benefited  by  remaining  where  he  was, 
but  he  gave  himself  at  once  to  the  cause  of  the 
Union  and  the  cause  of  right. 

"Those  who  in  that  day  questioned  his  judg- 
ment lived  to  know  that  he  was  calm  in  his  pro- 
cedure, sound  in  his  conclusions;  not  only  a 
civilian,  but  the  ideal  type  of  a  soldier.  When 
he  planned  that  march  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea, 
that  shall  live  as  long  as  time  shall  be  and  the 
history  of  this  Government  shall  be  written,  he 
was  not  surrounded  by  circumstances  that  would 
lead  to  ease  and  quietude. 

"  '  Our  bugle  sang  truce,  for  the  night  cloud  had  lowered, 
And  the  sentinel  stars  set  their  watch  in  the  sky, 

And  thousands  had  sunk  on  the  ground  overpowered, 
The  weary  to  sleep  and  the  wounded  to  die. 

"  '  And  reposing  that  night  on  his  pallet  of  straw, 
By  the  dim  campfire  that  guarded  the  slain, 

In  the  dead  of  the  night  a  sweet  vision  he  saw, 
And  thrice  ere  the  morning  he  dreamed  it  again.' 

"  That  grand  victorious  march  so  closely  associ- 
ated with  the  rebellion  was  conceived  by  him  on 
the  tented  battle-field. 


344          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

"  He  was  never  jealous  of  intelligence;  he  had 
no  fight  to  make  with  his  equals;  he  was  modest 
in  the  extreme.  The  world  never  presented  a 
picture  where  three  men  like  Grant,  Sheridan  and 
Sherman  might  be  seen,  each  trying  to  put  laurels 
on  the  other's  brow.  Speak  to  Grant,  and  he 
would  tell  you  of  the  successes  of  Sheridan  and 
the  wonders  done  by  Sherman.  Speak  to  Sheri- 
dan, and  he  would  tell  you  of  the  hero  of  Shiloh 
and  the  wonderful  man  of  Atlanta.  Speak  to 
Sherman,  and  he  would  tell  of  Sheridan  and 
Grant  and  fighting  Joe  Hooker.  Where  can  you 
find  such  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth?  Where 
can  be  found  men  with  intelligence  so  great, 
ideas  so  broad  and  natures  so  generous  that  each 
wanted  to  place  upon  the  other  the  wreath  that  he 
himself  was  justly  entitled  to  from  the  hands  and 
hearts  of  a  generous  people. 

"Sherman  is  dead.  His  body  and  his  presence 
will  never  be  seen  among  us  again.  He  was  a 
factor,  together  with  his  comrades,  in  American 
civilization;  he  had  opportunities  that  never  will 
come  again  to  any  man ;  he  was  associated  with 
those  who  were  great  in  their  respective  capac- 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  845 

ities,  and  he  was  born,  lived,  acted  in  an  oppor- 
tune time  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  world.  He 
was  as  great  as  his  opportunities;  he  was  modest, 
as  all  great  men  are,  and  the  fitting  tributes  to 
his  memory  are  the  criticisms  of  the  whole  world. 
No  soldier  ever  dreaded  his  presence ;  no  one 
with  a  just  cause  ever  flinched  from  presenting  it 
to  him;  in  fact,  he  was  a  man — such  a  one  as  we 
have  a  right  to  imitate  as  a  civilian,  and  such  a 
one  as  we  have  a  right  to  be  proud  of  as  a  mili- 
tary hero.  Peace  to  the  just  man's  memory! 
Let  it  grow  greener  with  the  years!  Let  the 
mimic  canvas  show  his  benevolent  features  to 
posterity,  and  in  the  book  of  time  the  glorious 
record  of  his  efforts  write  !  Hold  them  up  to  men, 
and  bid  them  claim  a  palm  like  his,  and  catch 
from  him  the  hallowed  flame." 


316          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 


BY  GEN.  HENRY  W.  SLOCUM. 

T  JOINED  General  Sherman's  expedition  from 
Atlanta,  and  was  with  it  from  that  time  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  Every  other  day  General 
Sherman  rode  with  me. 

"  On  these  occasions,  being  a  great  talker,  he 
was  as  entertaining  a  companion  as  could  well  be 
imagined.  His  conversation  covered  a  wide 
range  of  subjects,  but  touched  lightly  on  the  one 
subject  which  at  that  time  possessed  the  greatest 
interest  for  the  whole  country — the  march  it- 
self and  what  was  expected  of  it. 

"  General  Sherman's  appearance  at  the  time 
was  about  the  same  as  it  was  in  later  years.  He 
was  angular,  nervous,  but  giving  every  one  the 
impression  of  being  a  man  of  great  determina- 
tion. At  the  same  time  he  was  of  a  sanguine 
temperament. 

"  From  the  time  he  started  on  the  expedition, 
he  never  seemed  for  a  moment  to  doubt  that  it 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  347 

would  ultimately  prove  successful.  Nothing 
seemed  to  shake  his  faith  in  this  respect.  He 
never  discussed  his  plans  with  me  to  any  extent. 
It  was  not  his  habit  to  discuss  them  with  his  sub- 
ordinates. He  preferred  saying  little  about 
what  he  intended  to  do  until  it  became  necessary. 
His  self-reliance  was  remarkable. 

"  With  his  troops,  General  Sherman  was  exceed- 
ingly popular.  This  was  perhaps  but  natural,  as 
he  had  led  them  to  success,  and  a  commander  in 
such  a  position  generally  is  popular.  While  pos- 
sibly he  was  not  generous  with  his  men,  he  was 
always  just,  and  this  fact  they  recognized  and 
honored  him  for.  His  sense  of  justice  caused  him 
to  be  severe  in  his  treatment  of  those  who  failed 
to  do  their  duty.  He  always  looked  well  after 
the  welfare  of  those  under  his  command,  and  was 
never  above  having  a  pleasant  word  for  his  men. 

"  The  feeling  of  the  Southern  people  against 
General  Sherman  was  probably  stronger  than 
that  felt  against  any  other  Northern  General.  It 
had  never  been  General  Sherman's  wish  or  in- 
tention to  cause  any  unnecessary  suffering  to  the 
people  in  the  country  through  which  he  was 


348          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

marching.  For  the  burning  of  Columbia  he  was 
in  no  way  responsible.  Yet  he  was  charged  with 
it,  with  much  bitterness,  by  the  Southern  people. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  inhabitants  of  the  place 
were  themselves  to  blame  for  its  burning.  They 
had  filled  the  streets  with  cotton,  and  when 
Sherman's  army  marched  in,  thinking  to  propiti- 
ate the  soldiers,  they  had  waylaid  them  with 
whiskey,  which  they  gave  to  them  in  tin  cups,  as 
much  as  they  would  take,  until  every  ugly  fellow 
in  the  ranks  was  still  uglier  and  half  drunk. 

"  General  Sherman  always  expressed  great 
regret  at  the  suffering  caused  by  the  burning  of 
Columbia.  He  talked  with  me  about  it  at  the 
time,  and  frequently  spoke  of  it  after  the  war. 
Nothing  was  further  from  his  intentions  than  that 
the  city  should  be  burned.  He  strove  to  burn 
everything  useful  to  the  Confederates ;  nothing 
else.  When  we  first  crossed  into  South  Carolina 
we  found  we  were  walking  on  torpedoes  planted 
in  the  road,  and  the  troops  did  some  burning  on 
their  own  account,  but  General  Sherman  put  a 
stop  to  it  as  soon  as  possible. 

"  One  of    the    most   astonishing   things  'about 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  349 

General  Sherman  was  his  memory.  He  never, 
seemed  to  forget  anything  which  he  met  with  and 
which  he  thought  might  at  any  future  time  be  of 
use  to  him.  Having  been  stationed  at  Charles- 
ton before  the  war,  he  seemed  to  have  the  whole 
topography  of  the  State  at  command.  Frequently 
he  was  able  to  give  information  which  was  not 
found  on  the  map. 

"  The  subject  of  religion  was  seldom  mentioned 
by  General  Sherman.  He  was  not,  however,  a 
bigoted  man,  and  the  disappointment  he  felt  at  his 
son's  entering  the  priesthood,  he  believed,  was 
due  not  to  the  fact  that  he  had  become  a  priest, 
but  to  the  fact  that  he  had  deserted  the  profession 
which  was  his  father's  choice,  and  in  which  he  was 
already  gaining  an  enviable  reputation. 

"  On  politics  he  was  not  as  reticent,  but  fre- 
quently declared  he  wanted  nothing  to  do  with 
them  and  that  he  would  not  even  become  a  can- 
didate for  the  Presidency.  General  Grant,  he 
also  declared,  had  made  a  mistake  in  accepting 
the  Presidency,  as  his  reputation  as  a  soldier  was 
worth  more  than  any  civil  distinction  he  could  at- 
tain." 


350          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN 


BY  SENATOR  MORGAN. 

"/~^VN  this  occasion  of  national  solemnity  I  would 
lead  the  thoughts  and  sympathies  of  the 
American  Senate  back  to  those  days  in  our  his- 
tory when  Gen.  Sherman  was,  by  a  choice  greatly 
honorable  to  his  nature,  a  citizen  of  the  State  of 
Louisiana,  and  presided  over  a  college  for  the 
instruction  of  Southern  youths  in  the  arts  of  war 
and  the  arts  of  peace.  Those  were  not  worse 
days  than  some  we  have  seen  during  the  last  half 
of  this  century.  In  those  days,  notwithstanding 
the  conditions  of  the  South,  in  view  of  its  institu- 
tions inherited  from  the  older  States  of  the  East, 
every  American  was  as  welcome  in  Louisiana  and 
the  South  as  he  was  elsewhere  in  the  Union.  We 
are  gradually  and  surely  returning  to  that  cordial 
state  of  feeling  which  was  unhappily  interrupted 
by  the  civil  war. 

"Our  fathers  taught  us  that  it  was  the  highest 
patriotism  to  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  coun- 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  351 

try.  But  they  had  left  within  its  body  guarantees 
of  an  institution  that  the  will  of  the  majority, 
finally  determined,  should  no  longer  exist  and 
which  put  the  conscience  of  the  people  to  the 
severest  test.  Looking  back  now  to  the  begin- 
ning of  this  century,  and  to  the  conflict  of  opinion 
and  of  material  interests  engendered  by  those 
guarantees,  we  can  see  that  they  never  could  have 
been  stricken  out  of  the  organic  law  except  by  a 
conflict  of  arms.  The  conflict  came,  as  it  was 
bound  to  come,  and  Americans  became  enemies 
as  they  were  bound  to  be  in  the  settlement  of 
issues  that  involved  so  much  money,  such  radical 
political  results,  and  the  pride  of  a  great  and 
illustrious  race  of  people.  The  power  rested  with 
the  victors  at  the  close  of  the  conflict,  but  not  all 
the  honors  of  the  desperate  warfare.  Indeed,  the 
survivors  are  now  winning  honors,  enriched  with 
justice  and  magnanimity,  not  less  worthy  than 
those  who  won  the  battles,  in  their  labors  to 
restore  the  country  to  its  former  feeling  of  frater- 
nal regard  and  to  unity  of  sentiment  and  action 
and  to  promote  its  welfare. 

"The   fidelity  of  the   great   General   who  has 


352         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

just  departed  in  the  ripeness  of  age,  and  with  a 
history  marked  by  devotion  to  his  flag,  was  the 
true  and  simple  faith  of  an  American  to  his  con- 
victions of  duty.  We  differed  with  him,  and  con- 
tested campaigns  and  battle-fields  with  him,  but  we 
welcome  the  history  of  the  great  soldier  as  the 
proud  inheritance  of  our  country.  We  do  this  as 
cordially  and  as  sincerely  as  we  gave  him  welcome 
in  the  South  as  one  of  our  people,  when  our  sons 
were  confided  to  his  care,  in  a  relation  that  (next 
to  paternity)  had  its  influence  upon  the  young  men 
of  the  country. 

"The  great  military  leaders  on  both  sides  of 
our  civil  war  are  rapidly  marching  across  the 
border  to  a  land  where  history  and  truth  and  jus- 
tice must  decide  upon  every  man's  career.  When 
they  meet  there  they  will  be  happy  to  find  that 
the  honor  of  human  actions  is  not  always  meas- 
ured by  their  vision,  but  by  the  motives  in  which 
they  had  their  origin.  I  cherish  the  proud  belief 
that  the  heroes  of  the  civil  war  will  find  that, 
measured  by  this  standard,  none  of  them,  on 
either  side,  were  delinquent,  and  they  will  be 
happy  in  an  association  that  will  never  end  and 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  353 

will    never    be    disturbed    by   an    evil    thouo-ht 

*  o 

jealousy,  or  distrust  When  a  line  so  narrow 
divides  us  from  those  high  courts  in  which  our 
actions  are  to  be  judged  by  their  motives,  and 
when  so  many  millions  now  living,  and  increasing 
millions  to  follow,  are  to  be  affected  by  the  wisdom 
of  our  enactments,  we  will  do  well  to  give  up  this 
day  to  reflection  upon  our  duties  and  (in  sym- 
pathy with  this  great  country)  to  dedicate  the  day 
to  his  memory.  In  such  a  retrospect  we  shall 
find  an  admonition  that  an  American  Senate 
should  meet,  on  this  side  of  the  fatal  line  of 
death,  as  the  American  Generals  meet  on  the 
other  side,  to  render  justice  to  each  other  and  to 
make  our  beloved  country  as  happy,  comparative- 
ly, as  we  should  wish  the  great  beyond  to  be  to 
those  great  spirits." 


23 


354          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 


BY  SENATOR  HAWIvEY. 

"  f  T  E  was  a  great  soldier  by  the  judgment  of  the 
greatsoldiers  of  the  world.  In  time  of  peace 
he  had  been  a  great  citizen,  glowing  and  abound- 
ing with  love  of  country  and  of  all  humanity. 
His  glorious  soul  appeared  in  every  look,  gesture, 
and  word. 

"The  history  of  our  country  is  rich  in  soldiers 
who  have  set  examples  of  simple  soldierly  obe- 
dience to  the  civil  law  and  of  self-abnegation. 
Washington,  Grant,  Sheridan  and  Sherman  lead 
tjhe  list.  Sherman  was  the  last  of  the  illustrious 
trio  who  were  by  universal  consent  the  foremost 
figures  in  the  armies  of  the  Union  in  the  late 
war.  Among  the  precious  traditions  (to  pass 
into  our  history  for  the  admiration  of  the  old  and 
the  instruction  of  the  young)  was  their  friendship, 
their  most  harmonious  co-operation  without  a 
shadow  of  ambition  or  pride.  When  Gen.  Grant 
was  called  to  Washington  to  take  command  of 
the  armies  of  the  Union  his  great  heart  did  not 
forget  the  men  who  stood  by  him." 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  355 


BY  HON.  CARL  SCHURZ. 

"TTISTORY  will  not  fail  to  record  that  this 
great  General  was,  as  a  victorious  soldier, 
a  model  of  republican  citizenship.  When  he  had 
done  his  illustrious  deeds,  he  rose  step  by  step  to 
the  highest  rank  in  the  army,  and  then,  grown 
old,  he  retired.  The  Republic  made  provrsion  for 
him  in  modest  republican  style.  He  was  satis- 
fied. He  asked  for  no  higher  reward.  Although 
the  splendor  of  his  achievements,  and  the  personal 
affection  for  him  which  every  one  of  his  soldiers 
carried  home,  made  him  the  most  popular  Ameri- 
can of  his  day,  and  although  the  most  glittering 
prizes  were  not  seldom  held  up  before  his  eyes, 
he  remained  untroubled  by  ulterior  ambition.  No 
thought  that  the  Republic  owed  him  moce  ever 
darkened  his  mind.  No  man  could  have  spoken 
to  him  of  the  'ingratitude  of  republics'  without 
meetinor  from  him  a  stern  rebuke.  And  so,  con- 

o 

tent  with  the  consciousness  of  a'great  duty  nobly 
done,  he  was  happy  in  the  love  of  his  fellow- 
citizens." 


356         LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 


BY  EX-PRESIDENT  HAYES. 

intimate  acquaintance  with  General 
Sherman  dates  only  since  the  war.  I 
had  been  on  friendly  terms  with  him  for  about 
twenty-five  years.  He  was  so  well-known  to  the 
whole  people,  and  especially  to  the  Union  soldiers, 
that  there  is  hardly  any  reason  for  off-hand  talk 
about  him.  There  are  probably  few  men  who 
ever  lived  in  any  country  who  were  known  and 
loved  as  General  Sherman  was.  He  was  the 
idol  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Union  Army.  His 
presence  at  soldiers'  meetings  and  with  soldiers' 
societies  and  organizations  was  always  hailed  with 
the  utmost  delight.  When  the  General  was  pres- 
ent the  enthusiasm  created  by  his  inspiring  pres- 
ence was  such  as  to  make  him  the  chief  attrac- 
tion at  all  important  gatherings.  He  was  always 
cordial  and  very  happy  in  his  greetings  of  his 
comrades.  He  was  full  of  the  comrade  spirit,  and 
all,  from  the  humblest  soldier  to  the  corps  com- 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  357 

mander,  were  equally  gratified  by  the  way  in 
which  they  were  met  and  greeted  by  General 
Sherman. 

"  He  will  be  greatly  missed  and  greatly 
mourned  by  the  whole  body  of  men  who  served 
with  and  under  him,  and,  indeed,  by  all  the 
soldiers  of  all  the  armies.  He  was  generally  re- 
garded by  them  as  the  military  genius  of  the  war. 
He  was  a  voluminous  writer,  and  a  ready,  prompt 
and  capital  talker.  Probably  no  man  who  was 
connected  with  the  war  said  as  many  things 
which  will  be  remembered  and  quoted  hereafter 
as  did  General  Sherman. 

"  In  figure,  in  face  and  in  bearing  he  was  the 
ideal  soldier.  I  think  that  it  can  be  said  of  him 
as  he  once  said  of  another,  that  '  with  him  gone, 
the  world  seems  less  bright  and  less  cheerful 
than  it  was  before.'  The  soldiers  in  looking 
around  for  consolation  for  his  death  will  find  much 
in  the  fact  that  he  lived  so  long — almost  twenty- 
six  years  after  the  final  victory.  There  is  also 
some  consolation  in  the  fact  that  he  has  gone  be- 
fore age  and  disease  had  impaired  his  wonderful 
powers  and  attractions.  He  was,  in  short,  the 


858          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

most  picturesque,  magnetic  and  original  character 
in  the  great  conflict.  He  was  occasionally  in  his 
writings  and  talk  wonderfully  pathetic.  I  recall 
nothing  connected  with  the  war  that  was  finer  in 
that  way  than  a  letter  which  he  wrote,  probably 
during  the  second  year  of  the  war,  when  his  son, 
about  ten  years  old,  who  was  named  after  the 
General,  died  in  camp.  The  boy  fancied  that  he 
belonged  to  a  regiment  in  his  father's  command, 
and  the  members  of  the  regiment  were  very  at- 
tentive to  him  during  his  sickness,  and  at  the  time 
of  his  death  General  Sherman  wrote  a  letter  to 
men  of  the  regiment,  thanking  them  for  what 
they  had  done.  I  cannot  now  recall  the  terms  of 
that  letter,  but  I  doubt  not  that  if  it  were  now 
published  many  an  eye  would  moisten  as  it  was 
read. 

"  A  very  noble  trait  in  the  character  of  General 
Sherman  was  the  fidelity  of  his  friendships.  His 
loyal  support  of  Grant  under  all  the  circum- 
stances cannot  be  surpassed  in  all  the  history  of 
the  relations  between  eminent  men  engaged  in  a 
common  cause." 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  359 


BY  HON.  CHARLES  F    MANDERSON. 

"  UNITED  STATES  SENATE, 
"Washington,  D.  C,  March  9,  1891. 

"R.  H.  WOODWARD  &  Co., 

220  North  Charles  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

"  Dear  Sirs: — Your  favor  of  the  4th  instant  is 
received.  I  really  have  not  the  time  to  comply 
with  your  request  that  I  should  write  an  article 
for  publication  on  General  Sherman,  of  such  char- 
acter as  the  man  and  the  object  you  seek  to 
accomplish,  would  naturally  require.  I  send  you 
herewith  enclosed  a  clipping  from  the  Congres- 
sional Record  which  contains  an  unprepared 
tribute  that  I  paid  to  his  memory  when  the  news 
of  his  death  came  to  the  United  States  Senate.  I 
met,  and  came  to  know  General  Sherman  at  an 
early  period  in  the  war.  I  served  under  him 
during  the  great  Atlanta  Campaign,  in  command 
of  my  regiment  and  part  of  the  time  in  command 
of  a  demi-brigade.  Since  the  war  it  has  been  my 


360         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

good  fortune  and  great  pleasure  to  have  seen 
much  of  him,  and  with  all  others  who  came  in 
contact  with  him,  I  not  only  had  the  highest  re- 
spect for  his  great  ability,  but  a  strong  affection  that 
naturally  resulted  from  his  many  delightful  traits 
of  mind  and  heart.  He  is  enshrined  in  the  hearts 
of  the  American  people  and  there  will  always  be 
among  those  who  served  with  and  knew  him,  a 
greater  degree  of  affection  than  would  be  extend- 
ed toward  any  other  of  the  great  leaders  of  the 
Union  cause  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  On 
his  yoth  birthday,  Senator  Squire,  of  Washington, 
General  Anson  G.  McCook,  Secretary  of  the  Sen- 
ate, and  I,  joined  in  a  telegram  to  him  congratu- 
lating him  upon  his  good  health  and  wishing  that 
he  might  live  long  to  enjoy  the  love  of  his  coun- 
trymen. February  Qth,  1890,  I  received  a  letter 
from  him  of  which  I  will  quote  a  part,  because  it 
shows  the  kindliness  of  his  nature  and  the  affection 
that  he  bore  for  those  who  had  served  with  him. 
He  says: 

"'My  dear  and  good  friends : — Such  a  kind  and 
gracious  message  as  you  sent  me  yesterday,  my 
yoth  birthday,  fell  like  the  dew  of  Heaven  on  the 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  361 

head  of  your  old  commander,  and  may  revive  his 
vital  energy  that  he  may  yet  dance  at  some  of 
your  funerals.  One  thing  is  certain :  spite  of  the 
voraciousnewspapercorrespondents,  his  hair  is  not 
silvered  over,  but  remains  the  same  old  chestnut 
sorrel  it  was  the  days  we  played  soldier.  Yesterday, 
letters,  telegrams,  presents  and  flowers  showered 
in  on  him  till  he  was  bewildered,  and  now 
asks  McCook  to  come  to  his  relief  on  the 
theory  that  grave  and  reverend  Senators 
cannot  stoop  lo  such  trifles.  Did  you  jointly 
or  severally  send,  or  order  to  be  sent,  a 
composite  bouquet  showing  the  glory  of  our 
national  coat  of  arms  with  the  stars  and  stripes  all 
proper  ?  If  so,  I  beg  to  thank  you  and  compli- 
ment your  florist  on  his  skill.  If  not,  I  must  seek 
for  the  donor  elsewhere,  because  yesterday  my 
household  became  a  little  mixed,  but  now  the 
dishes  are  all  washed,  the  house  got  in  order,  and 
I  am  now  left  to  guess  who  sent  this  or  that  and 
the  why  and  wherefore.  If  an  ordinary  birthday 
occasions  such  a  commotion,  don't  expect  an  invi- 
tation until  my  centennial  in  1920.  With  a  love 
and  affection  for  my  comrades  of  the  War — once 


362          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.JT.  SHERMAN. 

young,  now  in  prime  manhood  or  old  age — which 
grows  in  intensity  with  each  receding  year,  I 
am  sincerely,  Your  friend, 

"'W.  T.  SHERMAN/ 

"  I  think  that  nothing  could  show  the  warmth  of 
General  Sherman's  nature  better  than  this  letter. 

"  I  hope  that  some  one  may  give  to  the  world 
before  a  great  while,  so  that  his  old  comrades  in 
arms  can  enjoy  reading  the  work,  a  carefully 
edited  book,  giving  his  letters  and  speeches  since 
the  war.  They  breathe  a  kindliness  of  spirit,  a 
soundness  of  sense  and  patriotism  so  exalted  that 
they  would  result  in  great  good  to  coming  gener- 
ations of  the  Republic. 

"Truly  Yours, 

"  CHARLES  F.  MANDERSON." 

"  MR.  MANDERSON.  Mr.  President,  as  the  wait- 
ing hours  of  the  last  two  or  three  expectant  days 
have  passed  away  I  have  not  had  the  heart  to 
make  that  preparation  for  the  sad  event,  by  all 
feared  and  dreaded,  that  would  seem  to  be  meet 
and  appropriate.  An  effort  to  prepare  anything 
during  the  life  of  the  great  one  that  might  be  in 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  363 

the  nature  of  a  post  mortem  tribute  seemed  to  me 
like  a  surrender  to  an  enemy. 

'  This  death  comes  to  us,  although  we  might 
have  been  prepared  for  it,  as  the  unexpected,  for 
hope  has  been  with  us  all.  This  is  a  day,  Mr. 
President,  as  is  suggested  in  the  message  which 
we  have  received  from  the  Chief  Executive,  of 
national  mourning  and  of  widespread  grief. 
Here  at  the  capital  of  the  nation  lies  ready  for 
interment  the  1x>dy  of  the  great  Admiral,  the  chief 
of  the  Navy,  and  in  New  York,  being  prepared 
for  the  last  sad  rites,  is  the  corpse  of  the  greatest 
military  genius  this  nation  has  produced. 

"  Mr.  President,  he  was  not  only  great  as  a 
military  leader,  but,  as  suggested  by  the  Senator 
from  Connecticut  [MR.  HAWLEY],  he  was  equally 
great  as  a  civilian.  Who  is  there  that  has  stood 
by  General  Sherman  and  heard  him  tell  in  vivid 
words  of  the  events  and  observations  of  his  won- 
derful career  but  has  felt  an  admiration  for  the 
man  and  a  respect  for  his  ability  such  as  he  could 
feel  for  no  other  with  whom  he  came  in  contact? 
How  eventful  that  career !  How  varied  his  exper- 
ience !  We  have  heard  him  speak  of  his  life  in 


364          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

the  early  days  in  California,  of  that  brave  struggle 
he,  with  others,  made  to  carve  out  the  great 
empires  of  the  Pacific  Slope.  We  have  heard  the 
story  of  his  going  to  the  South  and  of  his  passing 
into  semi-obscurity,  to  emerge  from  it  when  the 
nation  called  her  sons  to  arms  for  her  defence,  and 
become  the  brightest  and  most  brilliant  of  all  her 
military  leaders. 

"  General  Sherman,  Mr.  President,  was  perhaps 
'the  only  man,  in  the  North  at  least,  who  in  the  early 
days  of  the  war  seemed  to  appreciate  to  the  full 
what  this  terrible  conflict  meant.  His  life  in  the 
South,  that  broad  and  extended  observation  that 
had  been  his  to  make  over  all  this  broad  land, 
and  his  knowledge  of  men,  had  taught  him  that 
the  crushing  of  the  rebellion  would  be  no  'break- 
fast job.' 

"  We  well  remember  how  it  was  said  in  the  days 
of  1861  that  he  must  be  insane  to  make  the 
suggestions  that  he  did,  We  recall  how,  when, 
in  Kentucky,  he  was  at  the  head  of  a  body  of 
troops  numbering  less  than  20,000,  in  conversation 
with  General  Halleck,  I  think  it  was,  who  was 
sent  to  consult  with  him,  he  said  that  to  hold  the 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  365 

lines  of  defence  merely  in  Kentucky  would  take 
60,000  men,  and  that  before  the  Union  troops 
were  through  with  the  task  in  the  centre  and  be 
able  to  make  aggressive  attack  200,000  men  must 
be  called  to  arms  for  duty  there.  This  sugges- 
tion was  one  so  startling  to  the  country  that  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  men  doubted  his 
sanity. 

"  He  seemed,  Mr.  President,  to  live,  as  men  of 
great  genius  are  said  to  live,  in  that  debatable 
ground  which  is  sometimes  referred  to  as  existing 
between  the  line  of  perfect  sanity  and  insanity. 

"  Great  wits  axe  sure  to  madness  near  allied." 

"  His  military  career  really  opened  at  Shiloh.  It 
was  not  my  fortune  to  serve  under  him  at  Shiloh. 
I  was  with  the  column  of  Buell  thatmarched  down 
from  Nashville  to  Savannah  and  crossed  the  river 
on  the  evening  of  the  first  day.  There  can  be  no 
question  about  it,  and  there  is  no  man  who 
witnessed  that  scene  who  does  not  know  that 
that  first  day  of  Shiloh  was  one  of  disaster  and 
great  danger  to  the  Union  arms.  But  there 
were  two  men  on  that  battle-field,  however,  who 
'did  not  know  that  they  were  whipped.  One  was 


366          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN 

Ulysses  S.  Grant,  the  captain,  and  the  other  was 
William  Tecumseh  Sherman,  the  lieutenant.  They 
'wrested  victory  from  the  jaws  of  defeat.' 

"  We  follow,  in  thought,  his  career  from  Shiloh 
to  Vicksburg.  In  that  wonderful  campaign  and 
memorable  siege  there  was  a  renewal  of  that 
affinity,  that  brotherhood  in  thought  and  action, 
that  seemed  to  exist  between  Grant  and  Sherman. 
There  was  never  aught  of  jealousy  between  those 
great  men.  The  Senator  from  Connecticut  [MR. 
HAWLEY]  has  read  the  glowing  tributes  of  the 
one  to  the  other.  They  acted  in  unison,  and  were 
an  impelling  force  before  which  everything  gave 
way. 

"  What  an  exultant  feeling  of  victory  went  over 
the  country  when,  on  that  memorable  day  in  July, 
Vicksburg  fell !  It  was  the  ray  of  hope  piercing 
the  gloom.  It  seemed  to  the  patriotic  North, 
weary  with  much  waiting,  as  the  prophecy  of 
ultimate  success. 

"  He  came  east  with  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 
We,  who  were  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland 
under  Thomas,  joined  forces  with  Sherman's  men 
of  the  far  West  at  Chattanooga.  That  great 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  367 

victory,  conceived  by  Grant,  achieved  under 
Sherman  and  Thomas,  and  where  the  entering 
wedge  of  battle  was  driven  by  Sherman  at  Tunnel 
Hill,  has  been  sung  in  song  and  written  in  story. 
It  was  the  fitting  overture  of  that  wonderful 
Atlanta  campaign.  There  will  be  to  the  student 
of  warfare  no  recital  more  interesting,  no  lesson 
more  instructive,  than  that  which  comes  from  that 
over  one  hundred  days  of  fighting  from  Catoosa 
Springs  to  Lovejoy  Station,  which  ended  in  the 
capture  of  Atlanta.  There  was  the  steady  unfal- 
tering pressure  of  tremendous  military  power 
and  a  master  hand  guiding  the  resistless  force. 

"  There  was  in  front  of  the  Union  soldier  a 
foeman  worthy  of  his  steel.  The  conduct  of  the 
Confederate  Army  under  its  skillful  leader  in  its 
masterly  retreat  during  that  campaign  is  one  that 
is  unequaled  in  the  history  of  war,  and  had  there 
not  been  at  the  head  of  the  Union  forces  a  soldier 
so  admirably  equipped  as  Sherman,  I  do  not 
believe  that  Atlanta,  that  Gate  City  of  the  South, 
would  have  been  ours.  The  capture  of  that  city, 
the  opening  of  that  gate,  permitted  the  'march  to 
the  sea,'  over  which  orators  grew  eloquent,  and 


368          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

which  produced  the  familiar  song  which  will  live 
forever  in  the  poetry  of  nations,  and  be  the  tune 
of  inspiration  to  the  daring  of  soldiers  while  war 
shall  be. 

"  General  Sherman  not  only  knew  what  this 
war  was  to  be,  but  he  knew  what  war  meant 
beyond  any  man  who  fought  on  either  side.  I 
have  sent  to  the  Library  and  procured  his  Mem- 
oirs, desiring  to  refer  for  a  moment  to  a  letter 
written  by  him  to  the  Mayor  of  the  city  when  his 
army  had  occupied  Atlanta  after  it  had  been 
evacuated  by  the  Confederate  troops.  I  sent  for 
it  that  I  might  refresh  my  memory  and  be  able  to 
give  here  and  now  what  Sherman's  idea  of  war 
was,  and  what  he  believed  were  the  duties  of 
peace. 

"  I  know  there  is  a  common  conception  that 
Sherman  waged  war  cruelly,  and  that  he  was  not 
actuated  by  those  finer  motives  which  sometimes 
prompt  men  who  see  their  duty  differently.  This 
was  not  so,  and  in  this  letter  to  the  Mayor  and 
City  Council  of  Atlanta,  when  they  were  pleading 
that  their  women  and  children  might  be  allowed 
to  remain  within  the  fortifications  of  this  captured 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  369 

city,  he  showed  not  only  full  appreciation  of  war's 
horrors,  but  displayed  his  knowledge  of  how  its 
terrors  could  be  best  ended  to  those  who  were 
suffering  from  it.  He  wrote: 

" '  We  must  have  peace,  not  only  at  Atlanta, 
but  in  all  America.  To  secure  this  we  must  stop 
the  war  that  now  desolates  our  once  happy  and 
favored  country.  To  stop  the  war  we  must 
defeat  the  rebel  armies  which  are  arrayed  against 
the  laws  and  Constitution  that  all  must  respect 
and  obey.  To  defeat  those  armies  we  must  pre- 
pare the  way  to  reach  them  in  their  recesses,  pro- 
vided with  the  arms  and  instruments  which  enable 
us  to  accomplish  our  purpose. 

****** 

" '  You  cannot  qualify  war  in  harsher  terms 
than  I  will.  War  is  cruelty,  and  you  cannot 
refine  it;  and  those  who  brought  war  into  our 
country  deserve  all  the  curses  and  maledictions  a 
people  can  pour  out.  I  know  I  had  no  hand  in 
making  this  war,  and  I  know  I  will  make  more 
sacrifices  to-day  than  any  of  you  to  secure  peace. 
But  you  cannot  have  peace  and  a  division  of  our 

country. 
24 


370          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

****** 

'• '  Once  admit  the  Union,  once  more  acknowl- 
edge the  authority  of  the  National  Government, 
and,  instead  of  devoting  your  houses  and  streets 
and  roads  to  the  dread  uses  of  war.  I  and  this  army 
become  at  once  your  protectors  and  supporters, 
shielding  you  from  danger,  let  it  come  from  what 
quarter  it  may. 

****** 

" '  I  want  peace,  and  believe  it  can  only  be 
reached  through  union  and  war,  and  I  will  ever 
conduct  war  with  a  view  to  perfect  and  early 
success.' 

"The  unfortunate  thing  was  that  this  important 
lesson  was  not  taught  earlier  in  the  days  of  our 
civil  strife.  Had  it  been  it  would  have  saved 
many  thousands  of  lives  and  untold  suffering  to 
this  country. 

"  General  Sherman  never  trifled  with  his  duty. 
He  appreciated  the  duty  of  peace  as  well ;  and  I 
believe  the  sentence  came  from  the  inmost  re- 
cesses of  his  heart  when  he  wrote  in  this  same 
letter  these  words : 

" '  But,  my  dear  sirs,  when  peace  does  come, 


REMINISCENCES  AND  TRIBUTES.  371 

you  may  call  on  me  for  anything.  Then  will  I 
share  with  you  the  last  cracker,  and  watch  with 
you  to  shield  your  homes  and  families  against 
danger  from  every  quarter.' 

"  He  did  full  duty  in  peace  or  war.  Estimable 
as  a  citizen,  and  as  fully  appreciating  the  duties 
of  a  civilian  as  he  was  admirable  as  a  soldier. 

"  But,  Mr.  President,  the  strife  that  we  have 
watched  with  such  intense  interest  for  the  past 
few  days  has  ceased.  The  conflict  has  ended.  A 
nation  has  witnessed  it.  Sixty  millions  of  people 
have  stood  in  silence  watching  for  the  supreme 
result.  Death,  ever  victorious,  is  again  a  vic- 
tor. A  great  conqueror  is  himself  conquered. 
Our  captain  lies  dead ! 

"  The  pale  lip  saith  to  the  sunken  eye, 

•  Where  is  thy  kindling  glance  ? ' 
'  And  where  thy  winning  smile,' 
It  makes  reply." 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX.* 


OLD  TIMES  IN  CALIFORNIA. 

"  I  "HE  rise  and  development  of  California  and 
of  the  Pacific  States  and  Territories  seem 
to  have  more  interest  to  the  present  generation 
than  the  slower,  steadier  growth  of  Missouri, 
Iowa,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Dakota,  Colorado,  etc. 
The  Southeasfeni  States  of  the  Union,  though 
making  large  progress,  have  seemingly  with- 
drawn from  competition  with  the  Great  West. 

There  are  plenty  of  histories  of  California,  and  all 
I  now  propose  is  to  supply  from  my  own  memory 
some  episodes  illustrating  the  American  method 
for  a  State  or  group  of  States  to  pass  from  a  lower 
to  a  higher  grade  of  civilization.  In  1846  there 
were  two  distinct  Californias— Upper  and  Lower. 

*  By  special  permission  and  kindness  of  the  Editor  of  North 
American  Review,  we  are  enabled  to  give  extracts  from 
several  very  interesting  and  valuable  articles  by  General  Sherman. 

375 


376        LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

The  name  of  California  is  generally  supposed  to 
come  from  the  two  Latin  words,  calor  (heat), 
fornax  (oven).  This  name  might  properly  apply 
to  Lower,  but  not  to  Upper  California.  Upper 
California  has  a  temperate  climate,  and  was  first 
colonized  by  pious  people  from  Mexico,  who 
solely  aimed  to  Christianize  the  native  Indians. 
When  our  ancestors  were  fighting  the  French  in 
Canada  (1756),  and  afterwards  fighting  for  the 
Independence  of  the  Colonies  from  the  Dominion 
of  Great  Britain  (1775-83),  these  pious  people 
were  employed  in  founding  the  missions  of  San 
Diego,  San  Louis  Rey,  St.  Juan  Capistrano,  San 
Gabriel,  Maria  de  los  Angeles,  San  Fernando, 
Buenaventura,  Santa  Barbara,  Santa  Inez,  San 
Luis  Obispo,  San  Miguel,  Soledad,  Monterey, 
San  Juan  Bautista,  Santa  Clara,  San  Francisco 
de  Asiz,  San  Rafael  and  Sonoma.  The  Indians 
of  the  Pacific  Coast  were  a  most  submissive  race, 
were  taught  agriculture  and  some  of  the  ruder 
arts,  and  the  period  from  1756  to  1830  is,  or  was, 
described  as  a  sort  of  Elysium. 

In    1821    the    Republic   of  Mexico  fought  for 
and  gained  her  independence  from  Spain,  thereby 


APPENDIX.  377 

becoming  sovereign  of  both  the  Californias.  The 
missions  named  were  soon  after  "  secularized" — 
that  is,  were  reduced  to  civil  instead  of  religious 
rule.  The  authority  of  the  priests  thereby  became 
limited  to  their  churches,  schools,  gardens,  orch- 
ards, etc. ,  and  Mexico  granted  their  other  or  surplus 
lands  and  privileges  to  outsiders  and  immigrants. 
Old  soldiers  were  thus  compensated  for  services 
to  Mexico,  and  as  a  rule  these  new  settlers,  or 
rancheros,  devoted  their  time  to  the  rearing  of 
horses,  cattle  and  sheep.  There  never  was  or 
can  be  a  better  description  of  California  in  that 
epoch  (1830-35)  than  is  contained  in  Dana's  "Two 
Years  Before  the  Mast,"  accessible  to  every 
reader. 

In  1846  the  United  States  declared  war  to 
exist  with  Mexico,  and  I,  as  a  Lieutenant  of 
Captain  C.  O.  Tompkins'  company  of  the  Third 
Artillery,  was  sent  in  the  U.  S.  store-ship  "Lex- 
ington" to  California,  around  Cape  Horn,  198 
days  buffeting  with  the  winds  and  waves,  yet 
arriving,  January  29,  1847,  at  Monterey,  the 
most  speedy  and  convenient  route  possible  at 
that  day.  There  was  no  city  of  San  Francisco 


378          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

then.  Our  orders  were  to  occupy  and  hold  Mon- 
terey, the  capital  of  Alta,  or  Upper  California. 
We  found  there  a  lieutenant  of  U.  S.  Marines 
(Maddox),  and  a  midshipman  (Baldwin),  who 
transferred  the  public  property  to  us  most  grace- 
fully, and  our  Company  F,  Third  Artillery,  Cap- 
tain C.  Q.  Tompkins,  became  masters  of  the 
situation. 

The  frigate  "Independence"  lay  in  the  harbor, 
commanded  by  Commodore  William  Bransford 
Shubrick,  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  gentlemen  I  have  ever  met. 
I  happened  to  be  on  board  that  frigate  dining 
with  the  ward-room  officers  when  the  sloop-of- 
war  "Cyane,"  Captain  Du  Pont,  was  reported  off 
the  harbor  coming  in  from  San  Diego.  In  that 
sloop  was  General  S.  W.  Kearney,  of  the  regular 
army  of  the  United  States,  who,  with  a  smart 
escort,  had  come  across  the  continent  with  orders 
to  command  the  land  forces,  leaving  the  navy 
equal  control  at  sea. 

Thus  wisely  and  properly  the  division  of 
power  was  adjusted,  order  and  system  resulted, 
and  from  that  day  to  this  Upper  California  has 


APPENDIX.  379 

grown  by  the  natural  law  of  American  develop- 
ment, whilst  Lower  California  yet  remains  in 
static  quo,  a  province  of  Mexico. 

In  1847,  only  forty-two  years  ago,  there  was 
no  such  thing  as  a  mail  in  California.  Letters 
came  straggling  by  chance  ships  from  China, 
Valparaiso,  Callao,  and  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

The  Adjutant- General  of  the  army,  aftenvards 
from  Washington,  sent  across  land,  by  Kit  Car- 
son, F.  X.  Aubrey  and  Roubideatix,  a  few  offi- 
cial letters  once  a  year  by  way  of  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,  Santa  F6,  Los  Angeles,  etc.,  starting 
usu-ally  in  September  of  each  year,  and  reaching 
our  headquarters  at  Monterey  in  May  of  the  fol- 
lowing year.  That  was  the  surest  and  most 
expeditious  way  we  in  California  could  receive 
letters  from  our  Eastern  friends  in  1847,  1848 
and  part  of  1849. 

As  soon  as  General  S.  W.  Kearney  had  estab- 
lished his  headquarters  in  Monterey  (March, 
1847),  he  ordered  the  quartermaster,  Captain 
Folsoin,  at  Yerba  Buena  (now  San  Francisco), 
to  establish  a  semi-monthly  mail  from  San  Fran- 
cisco to  San  Diego,  a  distance  of  500  miles. 


380          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

Captain  Folsom  divided  the  route  into  four  parts 
— San  Francisco  to  Monterey,  Monterey  to 
"Dana's"  (Nepoma),  Dana's  to  Los  Angeles, and 
Los  Angeles  to  San  Diego.  This  was  the  first 
regular  mail  route  ever  established  on  the  Pacific 
Coast.  General  Kearney,  in  May,  1847,  returned 
to  what  was  then  called  the  United  States,  leav- 
ing Colonel  R.  B.  Mason,  First  Dragoons,  in  his 
place,  and  me  as  his '  Adjutant-General.  All 
reports,  messages,  etc.,  came  to  me,  and  I  had  a 
small  adobe  house,  with  a  negro  boy,  "Jim,"  who 
was  supposed  to  take  care  of  me.  The  mail-rider 
from  Monterey  to  Dana's  was  an  old  trapper, 
Jim  Beckworiih,  a  counterpart  of  Jim  Bridger, 
except  that  Beckworth  was  a  cross  between  a 
voyageur  of  Canada  and  a  Crow  Indian,  and  was, 
in  my  estimate,  one  of  the  best  chroniclers  of 
events  on  the  plains  that  I  have  ever  encoun- 
tered, though  his  reputation  for  veracity  was  not 
good. 

Some  time  in  the  fall  of  1848  I  was  seated  in 
iny  room  at  Monterey  when  Jim  Beckworth  came 
in  with  his  saddle-bags  of  mail  and  exclaimed  : 
"Leftenant,  they  killed  them  all,  not  even  spar- 


APPENDIX.  881 

ing  the  baby."  "Jim,"  said  I,  "  what  the  devil 
are  you  talking  about  ?  None  of  your  lies,  now !  " 
"  I  tell  you,  Leftenant,"  repeated  Jim,  "  that  they 
killed  them  all,  not  even  sparing  the  baby." 

After  overhauling  the  mail  of  letters  from  San 
Diego,  Los  Angeles,  Santa  Barbara,  etc.,  most  of 
which  it  was  my  duty  to  forward  by  another  ex- 
press messenger  to  Yerba  Buena,  I  naturally 
turned  to  Jim  Beckworth.  "  What  is  this  you 
report?"  With  an  earnestness  not  to  be  mis- 
taken, he  reiterated  :  "  Leftenant,  I  tell  you  that 
Reed  at  San  Miguel  is  killed,  all  his  family  and 
servants,  not  excepting  the  baby."  He  then  told 
me,  with  a  vividness  of  detail  not  exceeded  by 
Dickens,  how  he  had  received  his.mail  at  Dana's, 
had  ridden  to  San  Luis  Obispo,  and  so  on  to 
San  Miguel.  Approaching  this  mission  at  night, 
he  observed  the  absence  of  the  usual  lights.  Still 
he  drove  his  two  spare  horses  into  the  interior 
corral,  hitched  his  own  to  a  post,  went  as  usual 
into  the  kitchen  for  his  supper,  and  saw  the  In- 
dian cook,  as  he  supposed,  on  the  floor  asleep. 
Trying  to  arouse  him,  he  found  his  own  hand 
covered  with  warm  blood.  Then,  fully  alarmed, 


382          LIFE  OP  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

he  regained  his  horse  and  went  on  to  the  nearest 
ranche,  some  five  miles  off,  gathered  a  few 
friends,  and  returned  to  the  mission.  Hiding 
their  horses  in  the  orchard,  they  crept  up  to  the 
Mission  of  San  Miguel  and  gained  the  kitchen ; 
the  body  of  the  cook  was  gone,  but  it  had  left  a 
trace  which  they  followed  to  a  back  building, 
where  were  piled,  along  with  old  beams  and  raft- 
ers, the  dead  bodies  of  Reed,  his  wife,  children, 
and  servants,  all  murdered,  and  meant  to  be 
consumed,  along  with  the  mission  itself,  by  the 
murderers.  The  whole  scene  was  so  horrid  that 
Jim  Beckworth,  though  he  had  spent  his  whole 
life  with  Indians  and  hunters,  confessed  that  he 
was  scared,  that  he  regained  his  horse  down  in 
the  orchard,  and  did  not  stop  till  he  reached  me, 
ninety  miles  away  at  Monterey.  Satisfied  that 
he  was  telling  me  as  near  the  truth  as  Jim 
Beckworth  could,  I  took  him  to  the  quarters  of 
Colonel  R.  B.  Mason,  commanding  the  Depart- 
ment, where  he  repeated  the  same  story.  Col- 
onel Mason  instructed  me  to  go  up  to  the  fort  on 
the  hill  and  order  Lieutenant  Ord  to  take  a 
detachment  of  soldiers,  to  proceed  with  all  pos- 


APPENDIX.  383 

sible  dispatch  to  San  Miguel,  to  ascertain  the 
facts,  and  pursue  the  murderers  to  the  death. 
This  event  occurred  during  the  Mexican  war, 
when  the  military  power  in  California  was  su- 
perior to  the  civil,  though  we  tolerated  judges  of 
the  First  Instance,  Alcaldes,  etc.,  to  administer 
civil  justice  among  the  people,  who  universally 
spoke  the  Spanish  language  and  respected  the  old 
Mexican  laws.  Also,  at  that  date,  everybody 
traveled  on  horseback,  usually  with  three  horses 
to  one  rider,  two  driven  ahead  and  one  under 
saddle.  Thus  our  habit  was  to  make  ten  leagues 
or  thirty  miles  a  day,  and,  if  necessity  required,  as 
much  as  a  hundred  miles  a  day,  always  at  a  gallop, 
without  baggage  or  food,  except  "jerked  beef"  and 
"  pinole  "  (parched  corn),  tied  to  the  saddle.  Lieu- 
tenant Ord,  with  his  detachment,  was  off  before 
midnight,  reached  San  Miguel  (ninety  miles)  the 
next  day,  found  Jim  Beckworth's  story  true,  got 
the  trail  of  the  murderers,  which  led  south  by 
Santa  Inez,  back  of  Santa  Barbara,  and  at  the 
Rinconada,  twenty-nveniiles  south,  he  overtook 
the  party,  who  proved  to  be  four  deserters  from 
the  sloop-of-war  "  Warren,"  lying  in  the  harbor 


384          LIFE  dF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

of  Monterey.  They  had  a  running  fight,  in 
which  Ord  lost  one  of  his  men,  killed  the  ring- 
leader, and  captured  the  other  three  men.  These 
three  confessed  everything,  and,  as  usual,  threw 
off  the  crime  on  their  dead  comrade,  their  "  name- 
less leader." 

Gold  was  discovered  at  Butter's  Sawmill,  Co- 
loma,  early  in  1848.  In  the  autumn  of  that 
year,  no  story  was  too  big  to  be  swallowed.  Sol- 
diers and  sailors  believed  that  men  at  the  mines 
were  shoveling  gold  in  bags  by  the  ton,  and 
they  deserted  their  posts  and  their  ships  to  share 
in  this  "  bonanza.''  Four  men  deserted  from  the 
United  States  sloop-of-war  "  Warren,"  at  Mon- 
terey, with  little  or  no  knowledge  of  geography, 
but  impelled  by  the  universal  greed  for  gold.  By 
some  means  they  got  horses,  only  worth  from  $5 
to  $8  apiece,  and  on  an  evening  of  October, 
1848,  found  themselves  near  the  old  mission  of 
San  Miguel.  This  mission  had  been  leased 
from  the  padre,  or  priest,  by  an  Irishman  named 
Reed,  with  a  native  wife,  half  a  dozen  children 
and  servants,  a  few  horses,  cattle  and  sheep.  He 
had  been  to  the  mines  with  a  flock  of  sheep, 


APPENDIX.  385 

which  he  sold  at  a  gold  ounce — $16 — apiece, 
when  a  few  months  before  they  were  only  worth 
$1.25  apiece. 

These  deserters  unsaddled  and  picketed  their 
horses  in  the  valley,  where  the  grass  was  good, 
walked  up  to  the  mission,  and  were  received  by 
Reed,  as  always,  most  hospitably.  The  mission 
was,  like  all  others  in  California,  built  in  a 
quadrangle,  enclosing  a  space  used  as  a  corral 
for  cattle,  horses,  or  sheep.  The  front  included 
the  church,  the  residence  of  the  priest,  and  of 
\htgente  de  razon,  the  quality  or  better  class. 
The  sides  of  the  quadrangle  sheltered  the  neo- 
phytes, the  workmen  and  women  of  the  mission, 
and  the  rear  building,  facing  inwards,  generally 
served  as  work-shops,  store-rooms,  etc.,  etc. 
About  the  middle  of  the  main  front  was  a  gate 
closed  at  night,  making  the  whole  defensible. 
All  the  buildings  were  habitually  of  one  story, 
except  the  church,  were  of  adobes  (sun-dried 
bricks),  with  the  tile  roofs,  dirt  floors,  and  barred 
windows,  projecting  or  porch  roofs  inside.  Such 
was  the  mission  of  San  Miguel  in  the  fall  of 

1848. 

25 


386          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

When  these  four  men  came,  Reed  received 
them  in  his  accustomed  manner,  gave  them  sup- 
per, and  invited  them  to  share  his  hospitality. 
In  one  corner  of  his  room  was  a  fireplace  with 
chimney,  not  usual  at  that  date,  and  behind  in 
the  same  room  was  a  pile  of  wood  with  an  axe. 
In  that  same  room  was  an  ^ordinary  seaman  s 
chest.  Sitting  by  this  fire  smoking  their  pipes, 
Reed  naturally  inquired :  "  Boys,  where  are  you 
going  ?  "  Their  leader  answered :  "  We  are  de- 
serters from  the  sloop-of-war  *  Warren,'  anchored 
at  Monterey,  and  we  are  bound  for  the  gold 
mines."  Reed  said :  "  You  are  on  the  wrong 
road ;  you  should  have  gone  by  St.  Juan  Bau- 
tista,  Cacheco's,  etc.,  to  the  Stanislaus.'  The 
leader  said  they  had  taken  this  the  longer  road 
to  avoid  the  chances  of  capture. 

Then  a  general  conversation  ensued  about  the 
gold  mines.  Reed  said  he  had  been  there,  and 
the  miners  were  making  piles  of  gold.  He  had 
sold  sheep  for  $16  not  worth  more  than  a  dollar 
and  a  quarter  a  few  months  before,  and  intimated 
that  the  seaman  s  chest  contained  the  results  of 
his  speculation.  The  leader  of  these  deserters 


APPENDIX.  387 

went  back  to  the  wood-pile,  seemingly  to  replen- 
ish the  fire,  but  cook  the  axe,  approached  Reed 
from  behind,  and  clove  his  skull.  Then  ensued 
pandemonium.  The  mother  and  her  babe  in  the 
next  room,  the  children  begging  for  their  lives, 
and,  finally,  the  servants,  including  the  cook, 
all — all — were  murdered.  Then  came  the  sound 
of  Jim  Beckworth,  with  his  two  extra  mail 
horses.  The  deserters  naturally  hid  themselves, 
but  when  Jim  had  found  the  cook  with  fresh 
blood,  and  had  departed,  they  searched  the  mis- 
sion for  gold.  The  seaman's  chest  contained 
little  or  no  gold;  only  some  presents  of  calico 
which  Reed  had  bought  for  his  children.  They 
then  dragged  the  bodies  to  the  rear  building, 
piled  them  up  with  old  rafters,  intending  to 
burn  the  mission,  and  thereby  efface  all  traces 
of  their  guilt.  The  opportune  return  of  Jim 
Beckworth,  with  his  posse  of  rancheros,  again 
disturbed  them.  They  regained  their  horses, 
and  fled  south. 

As  before  stated,  Lieutenant  Ord  (afterwards 
Brigadier-General  E.  O.  C.  Ord,  of  the  regular 
army)  overtook  them  at  the  Angustura  Pass, 


388         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

below  Santa  Barbara,  killed  the  leader,  took  the 
other  three  back  to  Santa  Barbara,  and  delivered 
them  to  the  Alcalde,  Lewis  Dent,  brother  of 
Mrs.  General  Grant. 

They  all  made  full  confessions,  had  a  fair 
trial,  and  were  sentenced  to  be  shot.  They 
were  shot,  Lieutenant  Ord  and  his  detachment 
present,  but  not  assisting;  and  no  men  ever 
better  deserved  death  than  these  three.  When 
Lieutenant  Ord  returned  to  Monterey  and  re- 
ported what  he  had  done,  Colonel  R.  B.  Mason, 
a  strict  constructionist,  doubted  Ord's  right  to 
assist  in  what  he  construed  as  an  unlawful  act ; 
but  I  always  contended  that  my  orders  to  Ord 
to  follow  the  murderers  "  to  the  death "  were 
Colonel  Mason's  orders,  and  were  absolute  and 
final.  At  all  events,  time  has  settled  this  ques- 
tion forever. 

California,  from  1848  to  1888,  passed  through 
all  the  phases  of  civilization  which  England  did 
in  the  past  thousand  years.  In  1846  it  was  an 
outlying  Mexican  Province.  At  that  time  there 
was  not  a  shod  horse  in  California,  not  a  tavern, 
hotel,  or.  even  a  common  wagon  road.  We  trav- 


APPENDIX.  389 

elled  by  trails,  on  horseback,  sleeping  by  the 
road-side,  eating  jerked  meat  or  game  shot  with 
our  rifles.  And  now  California  has  better  hotels, 
better  markets,  more  convenient  appurtenances 
for  travel  than  London,  Paris  or  Vienna,  and  as 
good  stores,  factories  and  machine-shops. 

When  I  first  rode  into  Yerba  Buena  (now  San 
Francisco),  in  1847,  I  could  not  command  a 
roof,  a  common  meal,  or  even  buy  oats,  barley 
or  hay  for  my  tired  horse.  Now,  anybody  can 
obtain  a  good  carriage,  hotel,  and  room  as  luxu- 
rious as  can  be  found  in  the  world.  By  the  law 
of  virtual  velocities  this  transition  has  been  sud- 
den, violent  and  necessary.  The  existence  of 
San  Francisco  on  the  Pacific  coast  was  de- 
manded by  the  civilization  of  the  whole  world, 
—a  necessary  link  between  Europe,  America, 
Japan,  China,  etc.  Mexico  was  not  equal  to 
accomplish  this  task,  and  we  of  the  United 
States  have  the  right  to  claim  the  perfect  fulfill- 
ment of  a  noble  task  in  the  grand  march  of 
civilization  which  must  encompass  the  globe. 
.  But  it  is  not  of  this  problem  that  I  now  want 
to  treat,  but  of  episodes  which  have  marked  its 


390          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

progress  up  to  the  present  moment,  leaving  to 
others  to  fulfill  Burns'  prophecy  that  "  man  to 
man,  the  world  o'er,  shall  brothers  be.M 

The  recent  death  of  Admiral  Baldwin  in  this 
city  recalls  to  my  memory  a  most  interesting 
incident,  and  one  illustrative  of  the  development 
of  civilization  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

As  soon  as  the  United  States  had  become 
possessed  of  California,  arrangements  for  a  more 
perfect  communication  with  it  were  begun,  even 
before  the  discovery  of  gold  had  attracted  world- 
wide attention.  A  contract  was  made  for  a 
monthly  steamship  line  from  New  York  and 
New  Orleans  to  California  by  way  of  Panama. 
The  first  of  these  steamers,  the  "  California," 
reached  Monterey  February  23,  1849 ;  the  next, 
the  "  Oregon,''  in  March,  and  the* "  Panama  "  in 
April.  Thereafter  we  had  a  monthly  mail  to 
the  "  United  States."  Of  this  line  Win.  H.  As- 
pinwall  &  Co.  became  the  owners.  Subsequently 
a  rival  line  was  established  by  way  of  Nicara- 
gua, of  which  Mr.  Vanderbilt  was  the  chief 
owner.  Being  in  San  Francisco  in  the  autumn 
of  1853,  and  having  business  in  St.  Louis  and 


APPENDIX.  391 

New  York,  I  took  passage  by  way  of  Nicaragua 
in    the    side-wheeler    "  Brother   Jonathan,"    of 
which    Lieutenant    Baldwin,    U.    S.    Navy,   was 
the  captain.     He  may  have  resigned  from  the 
navy  before  that  date ;   but  he  was  every  inch 
a  sailor,  a  gentleman,  a  type  of  the  school  in 
which  he  had  been  reared,  and  the  same  who, 
when  a  midshipman,  had  been  relieved  by  us  of 
the  command  of  that  block-house  at  Monterey 
in  1847. 

Our  voyage  down  the  coast  was  uneventful, 
with  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  first-class  pas- 
sengers going  home  from  California,  and  about 
four  hundred  and  fifty  steerage  passengers. 
When  off  the  coast  of  Lower  California,  one 
morning,  Baldwin  and  I  were  standing  on  the 
hurricane  deck  near  the  pilot-house,  when  we 
noticed  some  commotion  and  unusual  noise 
among  the  steerage  passengers  on  the  deck  be- 
low— the  spar  deck, — and  presently  a  strong, 
stout  man,  who  had  a  rope  around  his  neck,  was 
shoved  forward  by  a  crowd  of  angry  men,  and 
one  of  the  steerage  passengers  had  shinned  up 
the  jack-staff  at  the  very  bow,  where  was  a 


392          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

cross-jack,  over  which  the  rope  was  passed,  and 
five  minutes  more  that  man  would  have  been 
struggling  as  from  a  gallows.  Baldwin  called 
out :  "  What  are  you  men  about  ?  "  But  not 
the  least  attention  was  paid  to  him.  He  was 
then  at  his  prime,  about  thirty-one  years  of  age. 
He  jumped  to  the  lower  deck,  seized  a  hand- 
spike from  the  rail,  and  felled  three  or1  four  of 
the  ringleaders,  all  the  time  calling  on  the  steer- 
age passengers  to  desist,  and  for  his  mates  and 
crew  to  come  to  his  help.  At  last  there  was  a 
pause,  and  one  of  the  steerage  passengers  spoke 
to  him :  "  Captain,  this  man  is  a  gambler,  a  ras- 
cal, a  thief  duly  convicted,  and  we  mean  to  hang 
him."  Baldwin  replied :  "  This  is  a  United 
States  ship.  I  am  captain,  and  you  are  pas- 
sengers. That  flag  which  is  at  the  peak  is  sa- 
cred. No  violence  shall  be  done  one  of  my  pas- 
sengers without  my  consent.  Take  off  that 
rope,  and  leave  me  to  be  the  judge.''  "  No ! 
Captain,  we  respect  you  ;  but  we  intend  to  hang 
this  man."  Through  this  delay  the  mates,  crew 
and  cabin  passengers  had  come  to  the  relief  of 
the  captain ;  the  noose  was  taken  from  the  neck 


APPENDIX.  393 

of  the  trembling  man,  and  he  was  safely  es- 
corted to  a  lower  state-room,  and  there  securely 
guarded.  Then  the  angry  men  told  Captain 
Baldwin  that  the  man  he  had  rescued  from  cer- 
tain death  was  a  well-known  gambler  of  San 
Francisco ;  that  he  was  the  owner  of  a  nugget 
of  gold  nominally  worth  about  five  hundred  dol- 
lars ;  that,  being  "  short,"  he  had  offered  it  for 
sale  to  his  fellow-passengers,  and  had  finally  put 
it  up  to  raffle, — fifty  chances  at  ten  dollars  a 
chance ;  that  it  had  been  won  by  a  young  lad 
from  Illinois,  who  was  returning  home  as  poor 
as  he  went,  and  who  was  so  overjoyed  at  win- 
ning this  prize,  which  he  could  take  home  to  his 
grandmother,  that  he  went  around  to  show  it  to 
his  fellow-passengers.  I  remember  his  coming 
to  me,  his  face  beaming  with  satisfaction;  but 
he  aftenvards  showed  it  to  a  doctor,  who  was 
more  suspicious,  and  who,  with  his  knife-blade, 
detached  some  pieces  of  quartz,  and  developed 
the  fact  that  the  "nugget  of  gold"  was  only 
lead  coated  with  gold  by  electricity.  The  boy 
was  correspondingly  indignant  at  this  palpable 
'  swindle,  aroused  the  passions  of  his  fellow-steer- 


894          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

age  passengers,  and  these  would  have  hung  that 
man  in  another  five  minutes  had  not  Captain 
Baldwin  interposed.  The  gambler  claimed  that 
he  had  bought  the  nugget  in  San  Francisco, 
had,  himself,  been  imposed  on,  and  showed  a 
bill  of  sale.  After  some  negotiation,  Baldwin 
consented  to  an  investigation,  which  resulted  in 
a  regular  "miners'  court,"  .on  the  hurricane 
deck  of  the  "  Brother  Jonathan."  An  old  gen- 
tleman named  Kelly  —  the  same  who  owned 
Kelly's  Island  in  Lake  Erie,  famous  for .  its 
grapes — was  chosen  as  judge;  a  good  jury  of 
twelve  men  was  impaneled ;  a  prosecuting  attor- 
ney was  appointed,  and  the  prisoner  was  allowed 
to  choose  his  own  counsel.  Baldwin  had  the 
awning  spread,  and  chairs  and  benches  for  the 
court,  witnesses  and  spectators,  of  whom  I  was 
one ;  and  I  have  rarely  seen  a  more  dignified 
court.  The  testimony  was  full  and  complete; 
the  arguments  of  counsel  were  really  brilliant ; 
the  charge  of  the  judge  dignified,  and  the  jury 
retired.  In  due  time  the  foreman  sent  word 
that  the  jury  had  come  to  a  verdict.  All  again 
assembled  on  that  hurricane  deck,  and  the  ver- 


APPENDIX.  395 

diet  was  rendered :  "  Guilty  ;  the  worthless  nug- 
get to  be  cast  into  the  sea ;  the  money  the  gam- 
bler had  actually  received  to  be  given  to  the 
Illinois  boy  (about  $350),  and  the  gambler  to  be 
punished  with  hickory  withes  as  soon  as  he  got 
ashore  in  Nicaragua.''  The  result  was  that 
Captain  Baldwin  maintained  the  honor  and  dis- 
cipline of  his  ship,  the  boy  got  the  net  proceeds 
of  the  lottery,  and  as  there  is  not  a  "  hickory 
withe "  within  a  thousand  miles  of  Nicaragua, 
I  infer  that  that  gambler  got  off  without  a 
beating. 

It  is  a  matter  of  history  that  I,  individually 
and  officially,  opposed  the  Vigilance  Committee 
of  San  Francisco  in  1856,  because  I  believed 
the  time  had  passed  for  such  extreme  meas- 
ures ;  that  the  courts,  especially  Judge  Norton's, 
were  better  qualified  to  try  the  cases  which 
caused  so  much  feeling  than  any  which  could 
be  devised  by  the  Vigilance  Committee;  and  I 
knew  that  the  Governor  of  the  State,  J.  Neely 
Johnson,  was  resolved  to  execute  the  lawful 
sentences  of  the  courts. 

Absolute  and  perfect  obedience  to  the  Consti- 


396          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

tution  of  the  United  States  is,  and  should  be, 
the  duty  and  pride  of  every  good  citizen.  The 
fifth,  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth  amendments 
guarantee  to  the  vilest  criminal  protection  till 
duly  convicted,  and  to  no  single  man  or  com- 
munity is  given  the  right  to  set  aside  these 
fundamental  principles  of  eternal  justice. 

In  due  time  the  "Brother  Jonathan"  reached 
San  Juan  del  Sur,  and  we  all  scrambled  to  get 
across  to  Greytown  and  home.  I  have  seen  none 
of  these  people  since ;  but  with  Baldwin  as  Mid- 
shipman, Lieutenant,  Captain,  Commodore,  and 
Admiral,  I  have  been  associated  ever  since ;  and 
but  a  few  weeks  ago  I  saw  the  casket  inclos- 
ing his  body  lowered  into  an  honored  tomb. 

If  our  Government  will  continue  to  encourage 
such  men,  no  American  need  entertain  a  doubt 
of  the  future  of  his  country. 

Wholesale  murders,  mobs,  miners'  courts,  and 

• 

vigilance  committees  have  long  ceased  in  Cali- 
fornia. We  go  there  to-day  in  palace  cars,  with 
every  luxury  and  comfort,  in  less  than  one 
week,  knowing  that  for  a  reasonable  considera- 
tion the  Palace,  Baldwin,  Cosmopolitan  and  Lick 


APPENDIX.  397 

hotels  will  receive  us,  and  give  better  enter- 
tainment than  the  Grand  of  Paris  or  Langhain 
of  London.  Justice  and  law  are  as  well  en- 
forced there  as  here  in  New  York,  and  all  the 
manufactures,  trade  and  business  are  conducted 
on  a  scale  which  fully  measures  the  demand. 

Such  transformations  have  not  occurred  in 
the  same  time  since  the  creation  of  the  earth, 
and  seem  more  like  the  fables  of  the  Arabian 
Nights  than  a  reality ;  yet  these  things  are 
the  creations  of  American  energy.  Nothing 
but  the  folly  of  man  can  check  this  progress, 
and  the  modern  Ku-Klux  and  White  Caps 
should  take  warning,  and  join  in  this  general 
advance  by  honest,  persistent,  methods  rather 
than  by  spasmodic  attempts.  Let  them  reform 
themselves  and  take  the  beam  out  of  their  own 
eyes  before  seeking  the  mote  in  others — a 
measure  sanctioned  by  high  authority. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 


398          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 


GRANT,  THOMAS,  LEE. 

TN  Macmillari's  Magazine  for  March,  1887, 
published  in  London  and  New  York,  appears 
a  most  interesting  article  of  ten  pages,  from  the 
pen  of  General  Lord  Wolseley,  in  which,  review- 
ing the  recent  Memoirs  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  his  Mili- 
tary and  Personal  History,  by  General  A.  L. 
Long  and  General  Marcus  J.  Wright,  General 
Wolseley  describes  his  personal  acquaintance  in 
1862  with  that  famous  man,  the  great  impression 
made  by  his  graceful  manner  and  profound  intel- 
ligence, and  concludes  with  the  following  para- 
graph :  u  When  all  the  angry  feelings  roused 
by  secession  are  buried  with  those  which  existed 
when  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  writ- 
ten, when  Americans  can  review  the  history  of 
their  last  great  rebellion  with  calm  impartiality, 
I  believe  that  all  will  admit  that  General  Lee 
towered  far  above  all  men  on  either  side  in  that 
struggle.  I  believe  he  will  be  regarded,  not  only 


J 


APPENDIX.  399 

as  the  most  prominent  figure  of  the  Confederacy, 
but  as  the  great  American  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, whose  statue  is  well  worthy  to  stand  on  an 
equal  pedestal  with  that  of  Washington,  and 
whose  memory  is  equally  worthy  to  be  enshrined 
in  the  hearts  of  all  his  countrymen." 

As  I  happen  to  be  one  of  the  very  few  sur- 
vivors of  the  great  Civil  War  in  America  who 
had  a  personal  and  professional  acquaintance 
with  the  chief  actors  in  that  grand  drama,  I  am 
compelled  to  join  issue  with  General  Wolseley 
in  his  conclusion,  while  willing  to  admit  nearly 
all  his  premises.  Though  he  is  much  my  junior 
in  years,  I  entertain  for  him  the  highest  respect 
and  admiration ;  he  has  deservedly  gained  fame 
by  deeds  here  in  America,  in  South  Africa, 
Egypt,  and  in  Great  Britain.  His  estimate  of 
the  men  whom  he  has  met  in  life  will  command 
large  attention,  but  I  trust  his  judgment  in  this 
case  will  not  be  accepted  by  the  military  world 
as  conclusive  and  final.  In  all  wars,  in  all  con- 
troversies, there  are  two  sides,  and  the  old 
Roman  maxim  applies,  "  Audi  alterem  partem^ 

England  has  so  long  been  accustomed  to  shape 


400          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

and  mould  the  public  opinion  of  our  race,  that 
her  authors,  critics,  and  officials  seem  to  forget 
that  times  are  changing,  have  changed.  The 
United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
contained  in  1880  only  thirty-six  millions  of 
inhabitants,  with  an  area  of  121,571  square  miles  ; 
whereas  the  United  States  of  America  had  fifty 
millions  of  people,  with  3,602,990  square  miles 
of  territory.  Great  Britain  is  crowded,  whereas 
in  our  vast  interior  there  still  remains  land 
enough  for  three  hundred  millions  of  inhabitants. 
All  of  these  are  taught  the  English  language, 
believe  in  the  Bible,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Wal- 
ter Scott,  Dickens,  Thackeray  and  Tennyson ; 
all  read  English  magazines,  periodicals,  and 
newspapers,  and  have  a  way  of  thinking  for 
themselves.  They  have  had  twenty-one  years 
for  thought  and  reflection  since  the  smoke  and 
confusion  of  battle  obscured  the  horizon,  and 
have  settled  down  to  the  conclusion  that  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  was  the  great  civil  hero  of  the  war, 
and  that  Ulysses  S.  Grant  was  the  chief  military 
hero. 

We  all  admit  that  General  Robert  E.  Lee  was, 


APPENDIX.  401 

in  the  highest  acceptation  of  the  term,  "  a  gentle- 
man and  a  soldier."  He  did  not  graduate  at  the 
head  of  his  class  at  West  Point,  as  stated  by 
General  Wolseley,  for  Hollunfs  Register  shows 
that  Charles  Mason,  of  New  York,  afterwards  of 
Iowa,  was  No.  i  of  the  date  of  1829  >  tnat  Rob- 
ert E.  Lee,  of  Virginia,  was  No.  2,  and  that 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  also  of  Virginia,  was  No.  13 
in  that  class  of  forty-six  members.  Lee  was 
very  handsome  in  person,  gentle  and  dignified  in 
manner,  cool  and  self-possessed  in  the  midst  of 
confusion  and  battle,  not  seeking  strife,  but  equal 
to  it  when  it  came,  and  the  very  type  of  man- 
hood which  would  impress  itself  on  the  young 
enthusiast,  General  Wolseley.  That  special 
phase  of  his  character  which  General  Wolseley 
thinks  a  "  weakness,"  his  invariable  submission 
to  the  President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  is 
probably  better  understood  on  this  than  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  where  from  childhood 
to  manhood  is  impressed  on  us  the  old  funda- 
mental doctrine  that  the  pen  is  mightier  than 
the  sword,  and  that  the  military  must  be  subor- 
dinate to  the  civil  authority.  A  coup  d^etat  in 
26 


402          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

this  country  wonld  excite  a  general  laugh,  and  I 
confess  to  a  feeling  of  pride  that  at  no  period  of 
our  history  has  the  idea  of  a  military  dictator 
found  permanent  lodgment  in  the  brain  of  an 
American  soldier  or  statesman.  Mr.  Lincoln,  in 
assigning  General  Hooker  to  the  command  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  wrote  him,  under  date 
of  January  26th,  1863,  "  I  have  heard  in  such  a 
way  as  to  -believe  it,  of  your  recently  saying  that 
both  the  army  and  the  Government  needs  a  dic- 
tator. Of  course  it  was  not  for  this,  but  in  spite 
of  it,  that  I  have  given  you  the  command.  Only 
those  generals  who  gain  successes  can  set  up 
dictators.  What  I  ask  of  you  is  military  suc- 
cess, and  I  will  risk  the  dictatorship." 

General  Lee  was  a  typical  American,  and 
knew  that  the  Southern  States  could  only  suc- 
ceed in  forming  an  independent  nation  by 
united  action  under  a  President  armed  with 
both  military  and  civil  functions,  and  he  was 
unquestionably  right  in  subordinating  his  con- 
duct to  the  head  of  the  government  which  he  had 
chosen  and  undertaken  to  support  and  defend. 

Before  entering  upon  the  analysis  of  his  mil- 


APPENDIX.  403 

itary  character  and  deeds,  permit  me  to  digress 
somewhat.  General  Wolseley  constantly  refers 
to  the  Revolutionary  War  of  1776  as  similar 
to  that  of  our  Rebellion  of  1861.  They  were 
as  different  as  two  things  could  possibly  be. 
In  the  first  our  fathers  most  humbly  and  per- 
sistently petitioned  the  Parliament  of  Great 
Britain  for  the  simple  and  common  rights  con- 
ceded to  every  Englishman;  they  were  denied 
and  repelled  with  a  harshness  and  contumely 
which  no  British  community  of  to-day  would 
tolerate.  They  rebelled  because  they  were  de- 
nied the  common  inheritance  of  their  race . 

» 

and  when  they  had  achieved  independence  they 
first  undertook  for  themselves  a  government 
which  was  a  "Confederacy  of  States,"  and  which 
proved  impracticable.  Then,  after  years  of  hard 
experience,  in  1789  they  adopted  the  present 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  in  its 
preamble,  sets  forth  clearly:  "We,  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more 
perfect  Union,  do  ordain  this  Constitution,  etc." 
This  was  not  a  contract  between  "Sovereign 
States,"  but  a  decree  of  the  aggregate  people 


404         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

of  the  whole  United  States.  Now,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  was  a  fair  election  in  November,  ' 
1860,  for  a  President  under  that  Constitution. 
The  Southern  people  freely  participated  in  that 
election.  After  they  were  fairly  beaten,  and 
Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  was  duly  elected, 
some  of  the  Southern  leaders,  delving  back  into 
the  old  abstractions  of  1776-1789,  revived  this 
doctrine  of  State  Allegiance:  that  a  man  hap- 
pening to  be  born  in  a  State  (an  accident  he 
could  not  control)  his  allegiance  became  due 
thereby  to  that  State,  and  not  to  the  aggrega- 
tion of  States,  the  Union.  I  have  too  high  an 
opinion  of  General  Robert  E.  Lee  to  believe 
that  he  could  have  been  humbugged  by  such 
shallow  doctrine.  No !  many  of  us  believe  that 
Lee,  in  1861,  saw  and  felt  the  approaching  hor- 
rors and  tortures  of  a  civil  war,  resigned  his 
commission  in  the  army,  hoped  to  hide  away; 
first  declined  service  in  the  so-called  Confeder- 
acy, and  accepted  temporary  service  to  defend 
Virginia,  his  native  State;  but,  being  possessed 
of  large  qualities,  he  was  importuned,  dragooned 
and  forced  to  "go  in,"  to  drift  over  the  Niagara 


APPENDIX.  405 

which  was  inevitable,  and  which  he  must  have 
foreseen.  His  letter  of  April  2oth,  1861,  ad- 
dressed to  Lieutenant-General  Scott,  is  in  that 
direction:  "Since  my  interview  with  you  on  the 
1 8th  instant,  I  have  felt  that  I  ought  no  longer 
to  retain  my  commission  in  the  army.  I  there- 
fore tender  my  resignation,  which  I  request  you 
will  recommend  for  acceptance.  It  would  have 
been  presented  at  once  but  for  the  struggle  it 
has  cost  me  to  separate  myself  from  the  serv- 
ice to  which  I  have  devoted  all  the  best  years 
of  my  life,  and  all  the  ability  I  possessed. 
During  the  whole  of  that  time — more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century — I  have  experienced  noth- 
ing but  kindness  from  my  superiors,  and  the 
most  cordial  friendship  from  my  comrades.  To 
no  one,  General,  have  I  been  so  much  indebted 
as  to  yourself  for  uniform  kindness  and  con- 
sideration, and  it  has  always  been  my  ardent 
desire  to  merit  your  approbation.  I  shall  carry 
to  the  grave  the  most  grateful  recollections  of 
your  kind,  consideration,  and  your  name  and 
fame  will  always  be  dear  to  me.  Save  in  de- 
fense of  my  State,  I  never  desire  to  draw  my 


406          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

sword.  Be  pleased  to  accept  my  most  earnest 
wishes  for  the  continuance  of  your  happiness 
and  prosperity."  His  resignation  was  not  ac- 
cepted until  April  25th,  1861  (Townsend,  p.  31). 

Yet,  on  the  23d  day  of  the  same  April,  he 
issued  his  general  orders  No.  i  from  his  head- 
quarters in  Richmond,  Virginia: 

"In  obedience  to  orders  from  his  Excellency 
John  I/etcher,  Governor  of  the  State,  Major- 
General  Robert  B.  Lee  assumes  command  of 
the  military  and  naval  forces  of  Virginia." 

To  us  in  the  United  States  of  America  this 
seems  a  sudden  descent  from  the  sublime  to 
the  ridiculous.  Virginia  had  neither  an  army 
or  navy,  and  such  were  forbidden  to  States  by 
the  Constitution  which  Lee  had  often  sworn  to 
maintain.  (Article  i,  Section  10.) 

I  have  before  me,  in  print,  another  letter,  dated 
Arlington,  Va.,  April  2oth,  1861,  addressed  f'My 
dear  Sister,"  and  signed  "  R.  B.  Lee,"  reciting 
that  "the  whole  South  is  in  a  state  of  revolution, 
into  which  Virginia,  after  a  long  struggle,  has 
been  drawn,  and  though  I  recognize  no  neces- 
sity for  this  state  of  things,  and  would  have 


APPENDIX.  407 

foreborn  and  pleaded  to  the  end  for  redress  of 
grievances,  real  or  supposed,  yet  in  my  own 
person  I  had  to  meet  the  question  whether  I 
would  take  part  against  my  native  State.  With 
all  my  devotion  to  the  Union,  and  the  feeling 
of  loyalty  and  duty  of  an  American  citizen,  I 
have  not  been  able  to  make  up  my  mind  to 
raise  my  hand  against  my  relatives,  my  chil- 
dren, my  home.  I  have  therefore  resigned  my 
commission  in  the  army,  and,  save  in  defence 
of  my  native  State,  with  the  hope  that  my  poor 
services  will  never  be  needed,  I  hope  I  never 
may  be  called  on  to  draw  my  sword.  I  know 
you  will  blame  me,  but  you  must  think  as 
kindly  of  me  as  you  can,  and  believe  that 
I  have  endeavored  to  do  what  I  thought 
right."  ... 

Now,  at  these  dates,  April  2Oth  and  23d,- 1861, 
the  State  of  Virginia  had  not  yet  concluded 
"secession."  According  to  McPherson,  page  7, 
the  convention  in  secret  session  adopted,  April 
iyth,  an  ordinance  of  secession,  but  on  April 
25th  that  same  convention  adopted  and  ratified 
the  Constitution  of  the  Provisional  Government 


408          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  "this  or- 
dinance to  cease  to  have  legal  effect  if  the  peo- 
ple voting  on  the  ordinance  of  secession  should 
reject  it."  The  actual  vote  did  not  take  place 
till  June  25th, — 128,884  for  secession  and  32,134 
against  it.  How  far  Lee's  defection  had  aided 
to  create  this  majority  is  still  the  question. 
(See  "Twenty  Years  in  Congress,"  Elaine,  Vol. 
i,  page  302.) 

We  all  sympathize  with  the  struggles  of  a 
strong  man  in  the  toils  of  other  ambitious  men, 
of  less  principle,  who  had  use  for  Lee  in  their 
contemplated  conspiracy.  At  that  date  there 
was  a  Virginia  claiming  sovereignty  and  the 
constitutional  right  to  secede;  but  there  was 
also  a  Confederacy  embracing  many  States 
already  in  rebellion.  Lee  unquestionably  took 
the  oath  to  Virginia  and  the  command  of  her 
"  army  and  navy,"  then  a  myth,  but  it  is  a 
popular  belief  that  he  never  took  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  "Confederacy,"  although  when 
General  Johnston  was  wounded  and  disabled  at 
"Fair  Oaks,"  June  ist,  1862,  General  Lee  did 
succeed  him,  and  did  command  the  Army  of 


APPENDIX.  409 

Northern  Virginia  under  the  Confederate   Gov- 
ernment till  the  end  at  Appomattox. 

His  sphere  of  action  was,  however,  local.    He 
never  rose  to  the  grand  problem  which  involved 
a  continent   and   future  generations.     His   Vir- 
ginia was  to  him   the  world.     Though  familiar 
with  the  geography  of  the  interior  of  this  great 
continent,  he  stood  like  a  stone  wall   to  defend 
Virginia  against  the  "Huns  and  Goths"  of  the 
North,  and  he  did    it    like  a  valiant  knight,  as 
he  was.      He  stood  at  the  front  porch  battling 
with  the    flames  whilst  the   kitchen  and   house 
were  burning,  sure  in  the  end  to  consume  the 
whole.      Only   twice — at  Antietam  and  Gettys- 
burg— did  he  venture  outside  on  the  "  offensive 
defensive."     In  the  first  instance  he  knew  per- 
sonally his  antagonist,  and  that  a  large   fraction 
of  his  force  would  be  held   in   reserve;    in  the 
last  he  assumed  the  bold  "offensive,"  was  badly 
beaten  by  Meade,  and  forced  to  retreat  back  to 
Virginia.      As   an   aggressive  soldier    Lee  was 
not  a  success,  and  in  war  that  is  the  true  and 
proper  test.      "Nothing  succeeds  like  success." 
In  defending    Virginia  and    Richmond   he   did 


410          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

all  a  man  could,  but  to  him  Virginia  seemed 
the  "Confederacy,"  and  lie  stayed  there  whilst 
the  Northern  armies  at  the  West  were  gaining 
the  Mississippi,  the  Tennessee,  the  Cumberland, 
Georgia,  South  and  North  Carolina — yea,  the 
Roanoke,  after  which  his  military  acumen  taught 
him  that  further  tarrying  in  Richmond  was  ab- 
solute suicide. 

Such  is  the  military  hero  which  General 
Wolseley  would  place  in  monument  side  by  side 
with  Washington,  "the  father  of  his  country — 
First  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen."  All  that  is  good  in  the 
character  of  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee  is  ours,  and  we 
will  cherish  it,  and  will  be  charitable  to  his  weak- 
nesses, but  so  long  as  the  public  record  tells  of 
U.  S.  Grant  and  George  H.  Thomas,  we  cannot 
be  at  a  loss  for  heroes  for  whom  to  erect  monu- 
ments like  those  of  Nelson  and  Wellington  in 
London,  well  worthy  to  stand  side  by  side  with 
the  one  which  now  graces  our  capitol  city  of 
"George  Washington." 

In  1861  General  Lee  was  a  colonel  of  cavalry 
on  leave  of  absence  at  his  home  at  Arlington, 


APPENDIX.  4n 

and  U.  S.  Grant  was  an  humble  citizen  of  Ga- 
lena, Illinois,  toiling  to  support  his  family.     He 
at  first  gave  little  heed  to  the  political  murmurs 
creeping  over  the  land  by  reason  of  the  election 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the  talk  of  secession  at  the 
South ;  but  when  the  telegraph  announced  that 
the  United   States   flag  had   been   fired  on  in 
Charleston  Harbor,  he  roused  up,  presided  at  a 
public  meeting  of  his  fellow-citizens,  instructed 
them  how  to  organize  themselves  into  a  com- 
pany of  soldiers,  and  went  along  with  them  to 
Springfield.     In  due  time  he  was  made  colonel 
of  a  regiment  of  volunteers,  conducted  it  to  Mis- 
souri, and   in   December,   1861,  reached   Cairo, 
Illinois.     His  career  from  that  day  to  this  is 
familiar   to  every  school-boy  in  the  land.     He 
moved,  in  co-operation  with  the  gun-boat  fleet, 
up   the   Tennessee  to  Fort  Henry,  which  was 
captured;  to   Fort   Donelson,  where  a  fortified 
place,  with  its  entire   garrison  of  17,000  men, 
surrendered  without  conditions  ;  then  on  to  Shi- 
loh,  where  one  of  the  bloodiest  and  most  suc- 
cessful battles  of  the  war  was  fought,  which  first 
convinced  our  Southern  brethren,  who  had  been 


412          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

taught  that  one  Southern  man  was  equal  to  five 
Yankees,  that  man  to  man  was  all  they  wanted ; 
then  Vicksburg,  Chattanooga, — everywhere  vic- 
torious, everywhere  successful,  fulfilling  the  wise 
conclusion  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  that  he  wanted  "mil- 
itary success."  Then  he  was  called,  for  the  first 
time  in  his  life,  to  Washington,  to  command  an 
army  of  perfect  strangers,  under  new  conditions 
and  in  a  strange  country.  Casting  his  thoughts 
over  a  continent,  giving  minute  instructions  for 
several  distinct  armies  from  the  Potomac  to  the 
Rio  Grande,  himself  assuming  the  hardest  share, 
he  began  a  campaign  equal  in  strategy,  in  logis- 
tics and  in  tactics  to  any  of  Napoleon,  and 
grander  than  any  ever  contemplated  by  Eng- 
land. His  personal  action  in  crossing  the  Rapi- 
dan  in  the  face  of  Lee's  army,  fighting  him  in 
the  Wilderness,  "  forward  by  the  left  flank  "  to 
Spottsylvania,  to  Richmond  and  Petersburg,  was 
the  sublimity  of  heroism.  Of  course,  he  had  a 
superiority  of  numbers  and  resources,  but  noth- 
ing like  the  disproportion  stated  by  General 
Wolseley.  At  Vicksburg  he  began  in  May, 
1863,  the  movement  with  less  numbers  than 


APPENDIX.  413 

Pemberton  surrendered  to  him  along  with  Vicks- 
burg  in  July.  At  Chattanooga  he  attacked  his 
enemy  in  the  strongest  position  possible;  so 
strong,  indeed,  that  Bragg,  a  most  thorough  and 
intelligent  soldier,  regarded  it  as  unassailable, 
and  had  detached  Longstreet's  corps  to  Knox- 
ville,  of  which  mistake  Grant  took  prompt  ad- 
vantage, and  I  never  heard  before  that  Bragg 
thought  the  pursuit  after  his  defeat  was  not 
quick  and  good  enough  to  suit  him;  and,  finally, 
when  Lee  was  forced  to  flee  from  his  iutrench- 
ments  at  Richmond  and  Petersburg  by  Sheri- 
dan's bold  and  skillful  action  at  Five  Forks,  I 
believe  it  is  conceded  that  the  pursuit  by  Sheri- 
dan and  Grant  was  so  rapid  that  Lee  was  com- 
pelled to  surrender  his  whole  army.  Grant's 
"strategy"  embraced  a  continent;  Lee's,  a  small 
State.  Grant's  "  logistics  "  were  to  supply  and 
transport  armies  thousand^  of  miles,  where  Lee 
was  limited  to  hundreds.  Grant  had  to  conquer 
natural  obstacles  as  well  as  hostile  armies,  and 
a  hostile  people;  his  "tactics"  were  to  fight 
wherever  and  whenever  he  could  capture  or  crip- 
ple his  adversary  and  his  resources ;  and  when 


414          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

Lee  laid  down  his  arms  and  surrendered,  Grant, 
by  the  stroke  of  his  pen,  on  the  instant  gave 
him  and  his  men  terms  so  liberal  as  to  disarm 
all  criticism.  Between  these  two  men  as  gene- 
rals I  will  not  institute  a  comparison ;  for  the 
mere  statement  of  the  case  establishes  a  con- 
trast. 

I  offer  another  name  more  nearly  resembling 
General  Lee  in  personal  characteristics, — Gen- 
eral (^eorge  H.  Thomas,  probably  less  known  in 
England,  but  who  has  a  larger  following  and 
holds  a  higher  place  in  the  hearts  and  affections 
of  the  American  people  than  General  Lee.  He, 
too,  was  a  Virginian,  and  when  Lee  resigned 
from  the  army  in  1861,  Thomas  succeeded  him 
as  colonel  of  the  Second  Regular  Cavalry.  A 
graduate  of  West  Point  of  the  Class  of  1840, 
who  had  served  his  country  in  the  Florida  War, 
in  the  Mexican  War ,% and  in  campaigns  against 
hostile  Indians,  rising  with  honor  and  credit 
through  all  the  grades,  at  each  stage  taking  the 
usual  oath  to  defend  the  United  States  against 
all  her  enemies  whatsoever,  foreign  and  domes- 
tic. When  the  storm  of  civil  war  burst  on  our 


APPENDIX.  415 

country,  unlike  Lee,  he  resolved  to  stand  by  his 
oath  and  to  fight  against  his  native  State,  to 
maintain  the  common  union  of  our  fathers.  In 
personal  appearance  he  resembled  George  Wash- 
ington, the  father  of  our  country,  and  in  all  the 
attributes  of  manhood  he  was  the  peer  of  Gen- 
eral Lee, — as  good,  if  not  a  better  soldier,  of 
equal  intelligence,  the  same  kind  heart,  beloved 
to  idolatry  by  his  Army  of  the  Cumberland, 
exercising  a  gentle,  but  strict  discipline,  never 
disturbed  by  false  rumors  or  real  danger,  not 
naturally  aggressive,  but  magnificent  on  the  de- 
fensive; almost  the  very  counterpart  of  his 
friend,  General  Lee,  but  far  excelling  him  in  the 
moral  and  patriotic  line  of  action  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war.  Lee  resigned  his  commission 
when  civil  war  was  certain;  but  Thomas  re- 
mained true  to  his  oath  and  his  duty,  always, 
to  the  very  last  minute  of  his  life. 

During  the  whole  war  his  services  were  tran- 
scendent, winning  the  first  substantial  victory  at 
Mill  Springs  in  Kentucky,  January  2oth,  1862, 
participating  in  all  the  campaigns  of  the  west  in 
-3-4,  and  finally,  December  i6th,  1864, 


416          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

annihilating  the  army  of  Hood,  which  in  mid- 
winter had  advanced  to  Nashville  to  besiege  him. 
In  none  of  these  battles  will  General  Wolseley 
pretend  there  was  such  inequality  of  numbers  as 
he  refers  to  in  the  Bast. 

I  now  quote  from  General  Garfield's  eloquent 
tribute  of  respect  to  his  comrade  and  commander, 
General  George  H.  Thomas,  addressed  to  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  on 
the  25th  of  November,  1870,  shortly  after  the 
General's  death,  which  tribute  has  gone  into 
recorded  history,  never  to  be  effaced  : 

"  When  men  shall  read  the  history  of  battles 
they  will  never  fail  to  study  and  admire  the  work 
of  Thomas  during  that  afternoon  at  Chicka- 
mauga,  September  aoth,  1863.  With  but  twenty- 
five  thousand  men,  formed  in  a  semi-circle,  of 
which  he,  himself,  was  the  centre  and  soul,  he 
successfully  resisted  for  more  than  five  hours  the 
repeated  assaults  of  an  army  of  sixty-five  thou- 
sand men,  flushed  with  victory  and  bent  on  his 
annihilation. 

"  Towards  the  close  of  the  day  his  ammuni- 
tion began  to  fail.  One  by  one  of  his  division 


APPENDIX.  417 

commanders  reported  but  ten  rounds,  five  rounds, 
and  two  rounds  left.  The  calm  quiet  answer  was 
returned,  *  Save  your  fire  for  close  quarters,  and 
when  your  last  shot  is  fired  give  them  the  bay- 
onet.' On  a  portion  of  this  line  the  last  assault 
was  repelled  by  the  bayonet,  and  several  hundred 
rebels  were  captured.  When  night  had  closed 
over  the  combatants,  the  last  sound  of  battle  was 
the  booming  of  Thomas'  shells  bursting  among 
his  baffled  and  retreating  assailants. 

"  He  was  indeed  the  Rock  of  Chickamauga, 
against  which  the  wild  waves  of  battle  dashed  in 
vain.  It  will  stand  forever  in  the  annals  of  his 
country  that  there  he  saved  from  destruction  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland.  He  held  the  road  to 
Chattanooga.  The  campaign  was  successful. 
The  gate  of  the  mountains  was  ours." 

Nashville,  on  the  i5th  and  i6th  of  December, 
1864,  was  General  Thomas'  most  important  bat- 
tle, where  he  was  in  supreme  command — of 
which  General  Garfield  says : 

"  Nashville   was   the   only  battle   of  our  war 
which  annihilated  an  army.     Hood  crossed  the 
Tennessee  late   in  November,  and  moved  north- 
27 


418          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

ward  with  an  army  of  fifty-seven  thousand  vet- 
erans. Before  the  end  of  December  twenty-five 
thousand  of  that  number  were  killed,  wounded, 
or  captured.  Thousands  more  had  deserted,  and 
the  rabble  that  followed  him  back  to  the  South 
was  no  longer  an  "army. 

"  In  summing  up  the  qualities  of  General 
Thomas  it  is  difficult  to  find  his  exact  parallel  in 
history.  His  character  as  a  man  and  a  soldier 
was  unique.  In  some  respects  he  resembled 
Zachary  Taylor,  and  many  of  his  solid  qualities 
as  a  soldier  were  developed  by  his  long  service 
under  that  honest  and  sturdy  soldier. 

"  In  patient  attention  to  all  the  details  of  duty, 
in  the  thoroughness  of  organization,  equipment, 
and  discipline  of  his  troops,  and  in  the  powerful 
grasp  by  which  he  held  and  wielded  his  army,  he 
was  not  unlike,  and  fully  equaled  Wellington. 

"  The  language  applied  to  the  Iron  Duke  by 
the  historian  of  the  Peninsular  War  might  al- 
most be  for  a  description  of  Thomas.  Napier 
says  :  '  He  had  his  army  in  hand,  keeping  it  with 
unmitigated  labor,  always  in  a  fit  state  to  march 
or  to  fight.  Sometimes  he  was  indebted  to  for- 


APPENDIX.  4]9 

tune,  sometimes  to  his  natural  genius,  always  to 
his  untiring  industry ;  for  he  was  emphatically 
a  painstaking  man.' 

'  The  language  of  Lord  Brougham  addressed 
to  Wellington  is  a  fitting  description  of  Thomas: 
'  Mighty  Captain !  who  never  advanced  ex- 
cept to  cover  his  arms  with  glory ;  mightier  Cap- 
tain !  who  never  retreated  except  to  eclipse  the 
glory  of  his  advance.' 

u  If  I  remember  correctly,  no  enemy  was  ever 
able  to  fight  Thomas  out  of  any  position  he  ever 
undertook  to  hold. 

"  On  the  whole,  I  cannot  doubt  that  the  most 
fitting  parallel  to  General  Thomas  is  found  in 
our  greatest  American,  the  man  who  was  '  first 
in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of 
his  countrymen.'  The  personal  resemblance  of 
General  Thomas  to  Washington  was  often  the 
subject  of  remark.  Even  at  West  Point,  Rose- 
crans  was  accustomed  to  call  him  General 
Washington. 

"  He  resembled  Washington  in  the  gravity 
and  dignity  of  his  character,  in  the  solidity  of 
his  judgment,  in  the  careful  accuracy  of  all  his 


420          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

transactions,  in   the  incorruptible  integrity,  in 
his  extreme  but  unaffected  modesty. 

"  Though  his  death  was  most  sudden  and  un- 
expected, all  his  official  papers  and  his  accounts 
with  Government  were  in  perfect  order  and  ready 
for  instant  settlement.  His  reports  and  official 
correspondence  were  models  of  pure  style  and 
full  of  valuable  details.  Even  during  the  ex- 
citing and  rapid  campaign  from  Chattanooga  to 
Atlanta,  he  recorded  each  month  the  number  of 
rounds  his  men  had  fired,  and  other  similar  facts 
concerning  the  equipment  and  condition  of  his 
army. 

"  His  modesty  was  as  real  as  his  courage. 
When  he  was  in  Washington,  in  i86i,his  friends 
with  great  difficulty  persuaded  him  to  allow  him- 
self to  be  introduced  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. He  was  escorted  to  the  Speaker's 
stand,  while  the  great  Assembly  of  Representa- 
tives and  citizens  arose  and  greeted  him  with  the 
most  enthusiastic  marks  of  affection  and  rever- 
ence. Mr.  Speaker  Colfax,  in  speaking  of  it 
afterwards  said : 

"  *  I  noticed,  as  he  stood  beside  me,  that  his 


APPENDIX.  421 

hand  trembled  like  an  aspen  leaf.  He  could 
bear  the  shock  of  battle,  but  he  shrank  from  the 
storm  of  applause.' 

"  He  was  not  insensible  to  praise ;  and  he  was 
quick  to  feel  any  wrong  or  injustice.  While 
grateful  to  his  country  for  the  honor  it  conferred 
on  him,  and  while  cherishing  all  expressions  of 
affection  on  the  part  of  his  friends,  he  would  not 
accept  the  smallest  token  of  regard  in  the  form 
of  a  gift. 

"  So  frank  and  guileless  was  his  life,  so  free 
from  anything  that  approached  intrigue,  that 
when,  after  his  death,  his  private  letters  and 
papers  were  examined,  there  was  not  a  scrap 
among  them  that  his  most  confidential  friends 
thought  best  to  destroy. 

"When  Phidias  was  asked  why  he  took  so 
much  pains  to  finish  up  the  parts  of  his  statue 
that  would  not  be  in  sight,  he  said,  'These  I  am 
finishing  for  the  gods  to  look  at.'  In  the  life 
and  character  of  General  Thomas  there  were  no 
secret  places  of  which  his  friends  will  ever  be 
ashamed. 

"  But  his  career  is  ended.      Struck  dead  at  his 


422          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

post  of  duty,  a  bereaved  nation  bore  his  honored 
dust  across  the  continent  and  laid  it  at  rest  on 
the  banks  of  the  Hudson  amidst  the  grief 
and  tears  of  millions.  The  nation  stood  at  his 
grave  as  a  mourner.  No  one  knew  till  he  was 
dead  how  strong  was  his  hold  on  the  hearts  of 
the  American  people.  Every  citizen  felt  that  a 
pillar  of  state  had  fallen,  that  a  great  and  true 
and  pure  man  had  passed  from  earth. 

"There  are  no  fitting  words  in  which  I  may 
speak  of  the  loss  which  every  member  of  this 
society  has  sustained  in  his  death. 

"  The  General  of  the  army  has  beautifully 
said  in  his  order  announcing  the  death  of  Gen- 
eral Thomas : 

"  Though  he  leaves  no  child  to  bear  his  name, 
the  old  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  numbered  by 
tens  of  thousands,  called  him  father,  and  will 
weep  for  him  in  tears  of  manly  grief. 

"  To  us,  his  comrades,  he  has  left  the  rich 
legacy  of  his  friendship.  To  his  country  and  to 
mankind  he  has  left  his  character  and  his  fame 
as  a  priceless  and  everlasting  possession. 


APPENDIX.  423 

"  O  iron  nerve,  to  true  occasion  true ! 
O  fallen  at  length  that  tower  of  strength, 
Which  stood  four-square  to  all  the  winds  that  blew! 

His  work  is  done, 

But  while  the  races  6f  mankind  endure, 
Let  his  great  example  stand, 
Colossal  sun  of  every  land, 
And  keep  the  soldier  firm,  the  statesman  pure, 
Till  in  all  lands,  and  thro'  all  human  story, 
The  path  of  duty  be  the  way  to  Glory." 

Such  was  the  testimony  of  Garfield,  who  stood 
by  his  side  amidst  carnage  and  slaughter,  the 
same  Gen.  James  A.  Garfield  who  afterwards  was 
elected  by  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the 
American  people  to  be  their  Chief  Magistrate  and 
President. 

Let  me  now  quote  from  another  equally  dis- 
*  tinguished  soldier  and  statesman,  U.  S.  Grant,  of 
world-wide  fame.  General  Grant  always  mani- 
fested the  greatest  affection,  love  and  respect  for 
his  senior  in  years  and  service,  General  Thomas, 
but  just  before  the  really  great  battle  of  Nash- 
ville, as  critical  and  important  to  America  as  was 
that  of  Waterloo  to  Europe,  General  Grant,  in  Vir- 
ginia, having  absolute  command  of  all  the  armies 
of  the  Union,  became  impatient  with  what  he 


424          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

thought  "slowness"  on  the  part  of  Thomas. 
After  several  telegrams  pro  and  con,  he  made  a 
conditional  order  to  supersede  him,  which  never 
went  into  effect,  because  events  fully  justified 
Thomas.  But  on  pages  295  and  296,  Volume  2, 
of  John  Russell  Young's  "Around  the  World 
with  General  Grant"  will  be  found: 

"This  led  to  some  talk  about  Thomas.  The 
General  (Grant)  said:  I  yield  to  no  man  in  my 
admiration  of  Thomas.  He  was  a  fine  character, 
all  things  considered — his  relations  with  the 
South,  his  actual  sympathies  and  his  fervent 
loyalty — one  of  the  finest  characters  of  the  war. 
I  was  fond  of  him,  and  it  was  a  severe  trial  for 
me  even  to  think  of  removing  him.  I  mention 
that  fact  to  show  the  extent  of  my  own  anxiety 
about  Sherman  and  Hood.  But  Thomas  was  an 
inert  man.  It  was  this  slowness  that  led  to  the 
stories  that  he  meant  to  go  with  the  South. 
When  the  war  was  coming  Thomas  felt  like  a 
Virginian,  and  talked  like  one,  and  had  all  the 
sentiment  then  so  prevalent  about  the  rights  of 
slavery  and  sovereign  States,  and  so  on.  But 
the  more  Thomas  thought  it  over,  the  more  he 


APPENDIX.  425 

saw  the  crime  of  treason  behind  it  all,  and  to  a 
mind  as  honest  as  that  of  Thomas,  the  crime  of 
treason  would  soon  appear  So  by  the  time 
Thomas  thought  it  all  out,  he  was  as  passionate 
and  angry  in  his  love  for  the  Union  as  any  one. 
So  he  continued  during  the  war.  As  a  com- 
mander he  was  slow.  We  used  to  say,  laugh- 
ingly, *  Thomas  is  too  slow  to  move  and  too  brave 
to  run  away.'  The  success  of  his  campaign 
(Nashville)  will  be  his  vindication,  even  against 
my  criticisms. 

"That  success  and  all  the  fame  that  came  with 
it  belong  to  Thomas.  When  I  wrote  my  final 
report  at  the  close  of  the  war  I  wrote  fourteen  or 
fifteen  pages  criticising  Thomas,  and  my  reasons 
for  removing  so  distinguished  a  commander.  But 
I  suppressed  that  part.  I  have  it  among  my  pa- 
pers and  mean  to  destroy  it.  I  do  not  want  to 
write  anything  that  might  even  be  construed  into 
a  reflection  upon  Thomas.  We  differed  about  the 
Nashville  campaign,  but  there  could  be  no  differ- 
ence as  to  the  effects  of  the  battle.  Thomas  died 
suddenly,  very  suddenly.  He  was  sitting  in  his 
office,  I  think,  at  Headquarters  (San  Francisco), 


426          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

X 

when  he  fell  back  unconscious.  He  never  rallied. 
I  remember  Sherman  coming  to  the  White  House 
in  a  state  of  deep  emotion  with  a  dispatch,  say- 
ing, 'I  am  afraid  old  Tom  is  gone.'  The  news 
was  a  shock  and  a  grief  to  us  both.  In  an  hour 
we  learned  of  his  death.  The  cause  was  fatty  de- 
generation of  the  heart,  I  if  remember.  I  have 
often  thought  that  this  disease,  with  him  long- 
seated,  may  have  led  to  the  inertness  which  af- 
fected him  as  a  commander. 

".  .  .  I  have  no  doubt,  if  the  truth  were 
known,  the  disease  from  which  Thomas  died  de- 
manded from  him  constant  fortitude,  and  affected 
his  actions  in  the  field.  Nothing  would  be  more 
probable.  Thomas  is  one  of  the  great  names  of 
our  history,  one  of  the  greatest  heroes  of  our  war, 
a  rare  and  noble  character  in  every  way  worthy 
of  his  fame." 

In  this  same  volume,  pages  458-460,  will  be 
found  General  Grant's  estimate  of  General  Lee, 
told  in  the  same  informal,  conversational  style: 

"I  never  ranked  Lee  as  high  as  some  others  of 
the  army — that  is  to  say,  I  never  had  as  much 
anxiety  when  he  was  in  my  front  as  when  Joe 


APPENDIX.  427 

Johnston  was  in  front.     Lee  was  a  good  man,  a 
fair  commander,  who  had  everything  in  his  favor. 
He  was  a  man  who  needed  sunshine.     He  was 
supported  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  South, 
he  was  supported  by  a  large  party  in  the  North. 
He  had  the  support  and  sympathy  of  the  outside 
world.     All  this  is  of  immense  advantage  to  a 
general.     Lee  had  this  in  a  remarkable  degree. 
Everything  he  did  was  right.     He  was  treated 
like   a   demi-god.     Our  generals   had  a  hostile 
press,   lukewarm   friends  and   a  public  opinion 
outside.     The  cry  was  in  the  air  that  the  North 
only  won   by  brute  force,  that   the   generalship 
and  valor  were  with  the  South.      This  has  gone 
into   history  with  so  many  other  illusions  that 
are  historical.     Lee  was  of  a  slow,  conservative, 
cautious  nature,  without  imagination  or  humor, 
always  the  same,  with  grave  dignity.      I  never 
could  see  in  his  achievements  what  justifies  his 
reputation.     The  illusion  that  nothing  but  heavy 
odds  beat  him  will  not  stand  the  ultimate  light 
of  history.      I  know  it  is  not  true.      Lee  was  a 
good  deal  of  a  headquarters  general,  a  desk  gen- 
eral from  what  I  can  hear,  and  from  what  his 


428          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

officers  say.  He  was  almost  too  old  for  active 
service — the  best  service  in  the  field.  At  the 
time  of  the  surrender  he  was  fifty-eight  or  fifty- 
nine,  and  I  was  forty-three.  His  officers  used  to 
say  that  he  posed  himself,  that  he  was  retiring 
and  exclusive,  and  that  his  headquarters  were 
difficult  of  access." 

Many  of  us  believe  that,  had  Lee  stood  firm 
in  1 86 1,  and  used  his  personal  influence,  he 
could  have  stayed  the  Civil  War,  and  thereby 
saved  the  lives  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the 
fairest  youth  of  the  land,  and  thousands  of  mil- 
lions of  dollars  in  cost  and  destruction ;  but 
since  the  public  mind  has  settled  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  institution  of  slavery  was  so  inter- 
woven in  our  system  that  nothing  but  the  inter- 
position of  Providence  and  horrid  war  could  have 
eradicated  it,  and  now  that  it  is  in  the  distant 
past,  and  that  we  as  a  nation,  North  and  South, 
East  and  West,  are  the  better  for  it,  we  believe 
that  the  war  was  worth  to  us  all  it  cost  in  life 
and  treasure.  We  who  fought  on  the  right  side 
are  perfectly  willing  to  let  this  conclusion  re- 
main ;  but  when  the  question  of  honor  to  the 


APPENDIX.  429 

memory  of  our  dead  heroes  is  raised  at  home  or 
abroad,  we  will  fight  with  pen  and  speech  to  se- 
cure for  our  Grant,  Thomas,  Meade,  McPherson, 
Hancock,  Mower,  Logan,  Blair  and  a  hundred 
others  who  were  true  and  faithful,  brave  and 
competent,  every  honor  a  nation  can  afford  to 
bestow. 

I  know  full  well  that  it  was  the  fashion  in 
England,  during  the  dark  days  of  our  Rebellion, 
to  consider  the  leaders  at  the  South  as  heroes 
contending  for  freedom,  for  home  and  fireside, 
whereas  we  of  the  North  were  invaders,  barba- 
rians, "  Huns  and  Goths,"  rude  and  unlettered. 
This  was  not  true ;  and  every  American  may, 
with  pride  and  satisfaction,  turn  to  Mr.  Lincoln's 
first  inaugural  address ;  to  the  glorious  uprising 
of  our  whole  people,  who  had  been  engaged  in 
peaceful  pursuits,  to  assume  the  novel  character 
of  soldier;  whose  leaders  emerged  from  the  great 
mass  by  the  process  of  nature ;  who  gradually, 
from  books  and  actual  experience,  learned  the 
science  of  war,  and  so  applied  its  rules  as  to  sub- 
due a  rebellion  against  the  national  authority 
by  one-third  of  our  people, — a  feat  never  before 


430          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

accomplished  on  earth ;  who,  at  the  conclusion 
of  hostilities,  granted  terms  to  the  vanquished 
so  generous  and  magnanimous  as  to  command 
the  admiration  of  mankind,  and  then  quietly 
returned  to  their  homes  to  resume  their  old  oc- 
cupations of  peace.  England,  and  even  some  of 
our  Eastern  States,  seem  not  to  realize  that  the 
strength  of  our  country  lies  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghenies.  They  still  see  only  the  war  in  Vir- 
ginia, and,  at  furthest,  Gettysburg.  The  Civil 
War  was  concluded  when  Vicksburg,  Chatta- 
nooga and  Atlanta  fell.  After  these  it  only  re- 
mained to  dispose  of  Lee's  army,  which  was 
promptly  and  scientifically  done.  Had  General 
Wolseley  met  General  Thomas  at  Chattanooga 
in  1864,  his  quick,  discerning  mind  would  have 
reached  another  conclusion.  He  would  have 
doubted  whether  a  single  corps  of  English 
troops,  with  the  best  staff  which  Aldershot  turns 
out,  could  have  turned  the  scale  after  the  year 
1862. 

Of  all  governments  on  earth,  England  is  the 
last  to  encourage  rebellion  against  lawful  au- 
thority, and,  of  all  men  in  England,  General 


APPENDIX.  43l 

Lord  Wolseley  is  the  last  who  should  justify 
and  uphold  treason.  Ireland,  to-day,  has  many 
times  the  cause  to  rebel  against  England  which 
the  South  had  in  1861 ;  and  when  some  future 
Emmet  manifests  the  transcendent  qualities 
which  scintillate  and  sparkle  in  the  Irish  char- 
racter,  and  some  enthusiastic  American  applauds 
him,  and  awards  him  national  honors,  then  will 
General  Wolseley,  or  his  successor  in  office,  un- 
derstand the  feelings  of  us  in  America,  who, 
though  silent,  watch  the  world's  progress  toward 
the  conclusion  in  which  truth  and  justice  must 
stand  triumphant  over  treachery  and  wrong. 

When  the  time  comes  to  award  monuments 
for  service  in  the  Civil  War,  the  American  peo- 
ple will  be  fully  prepared  to  select  the  subjects 
without  hint  or  advice  from  abroad. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 


432          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 


OUR  ARMY  AND  MILITIA. 


years  ago,  when  I  was  a  cadet  at  West 
Point,  a  bright  young  lad  came  from  his 
fond  parents,  as  fresh  and  innocent  as  a  lamb, 
duly  appointed  to  dedicate  his  life  to  the  glorious 
cause  of  his  country,  and  to  receive  the  necessary 
instruction  at  that  national  school.  He  passed 
through  the  usual  ordeal  of  admission,  and  at  a 
suitable  moment  applied  to  the  commandant  of 
the  new  cadets  with  the  question,  "What  must  I 
do  to  excel  in  my  profession?"  He  received  the 
blunt  answer,  "Obey  orders."  The  sequel  was 
that  he  graduated  in  the  following  January,  went 
back  to  his  home,  studied  law,  rose  in  his  profes- 
sion, and  became  a  judge  in  one  of  the  United 
States  courts  in  a  western  territory. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  to  "  obey  orders"  is  a 
large  factor  in  the  problem  of  military  life,  because 
subordination  to  lawful  authority  is  the  bond  which 


APPENDIX,  433 

holds  together  the  parts  which  compose  all  armies, 
and  makes  them  powerful  instruments  for  good 
deeds;  but  something  more  is  required.  There 
must  be  some  to  give  orders;  and  it  is  for  these 
that  instruction  is  chiefly  needed. 

In  every  profession  is  found  an  epitome  of  the 
knowledge  requisite  for  success.  Every  religious 
denomination  furnishes  a  "vade  mecum"  which 
teaches  the  believer  what  he  must  do  to  be  saved ; 
but  the  military  profession  offers  only  the  articles 
of  war,  which  amount  to  "You'll  be  damned  if  you 
do,  and  you'll  be  damned  if  you  don't" — nothing 
to  answer  my  friend's  inquiry  what  he  should  do 
to  excel  in  his  profession.  The  task  is  a  difficult 
one  ;  yet  it  must  be  undertaken,  and  military  men 
should  undertake  it,  because  it  is  their  exclusive 
business. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  recorded  history 
illustrates  the  science  of  war  better  than  any  ab- 
stract treatise,  because  what  men  have  done  in  the 
past  they  may  do  again,  and  every  army  contem- 
plates the  use  of  physical  force  to  achieve  some 
result  at  the  least  cost  of  life  and  treasure  and 
with  the  largest  promise  of  success ;  but  the  study 
28 


434         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

of  recorded  history  is  too  long,  too  complicated 
and  massive,  to  be  undertaken  by  the  common 
officer  or  soldier ;  therefore  condensation  is  nec- 
essary, if  not  imperative. 

Say  what  you  may  of  the  immortal  part,  man  is 
at  best  an  intellectual  and  combative  animal,  and 
the  history  of  the  world  is  chiefly  made  up  of 
wars — conflicts  of  self-interest  or  opinion.  The 
Bible  on  which  is  founded  modern  religion — 
— "Peace  on  earth  and  good-will  to  men" — re- 
cords the  deeds  of  military  heroes,  of  bloody  bat- 
tles and  fearful  slaughter ;  and  subsequent  histo- 
ries are  full  of  war,  its  deeds  and  alarms.  Yet 
philosophy  and  experience  teach  that  each  century 
has  brought  about  an  amelioration.  Statesmen, 
lawyers  and  doctors  of  all  degrees  find  germs  of 
the  modern  professions  in  the  examples  of  Greece 
and  Rome;  while  many  good  soldiers  believe  that 
brave  men  and  skillful  generals  "  lived  before 
Agamemnon,"  and  find  in  the  Greek  phalanx  and 
Roman  legion  the  counterparts  of  the  modern 
battalion  and  corps  cTarmee. 

My  own  reading  and  experience,  however,  con- 
vince me  that  modern  governments  and  modern 


APPENDIX.  435 

armies  have  their  origin  in  the  sp-called  dark  or 
middle  ages,  between  the  downfall  of  the  Roman 
Empire  and  the  discovery  of  America — a  period 
of  a  thousand  years  of  fermentation,  resulting  in 
great  good  to  the  masses  of  mankind.  Students 
of  the  military  profession  may  therefore  safely 
begin  with  the  chronicles  of  the  middle  ages, 
"England,  France,  Spain,  and  Adjoining  Coun- 
tries," 1320-1461,  by  Sir  John  Froissart — a  book 
of  world- wide  renown,  which  is  filled  with  graphic 
accounts  of  the  deeds  of  the  knights-errrant,  and 
from  which  Walter  Scott  has  drawn  largely  in  his 
"  Ivanhoe"  and  "Quentin  Durward."  Froissart's 
"Chronicles"  are  more  valuable  to  the  military 
student  by  reason  of  the  faithful  description  of  the 
habits,  customs,  and  thoughts  of  that  period  than 
for  the  records  of.  individual  feats  of  arms ;  and 
from  them  can  be  traced  many  of  the  usages  and 
customs  which  now  prevail  in  all  armies. 

Gunpowder  was  known  to  the  Chinese  as  early 
as  the  year  80  of  the  Christian  era,  and  the  know- 
ledge of  its  destructive  powers  passed  to  India, 
Persia,  and  Africa,  whence  the  Moors  carried  it 
into  Spain  and  used  it  in  sieges  as  early  as  1258, 


436          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

though  the  world  generally  gives  to  Berthold 
Schwartz,  of  Germany,  the  credit  of  its  discovery 
about  1330. 

The  battle  of  Cr6cy,  August,  1346,  between  the 
English  and  French,  marks  the  first  recorded  use 
of  gunpowder  in  a  field  battle;  it  enabled  a  few 
thousand  English  to  rout  and  destroy  four- fold 
their  own  number  of  valiant  knights,  and  absolute- 
ly revolutionized  the  whole  art  of  war  as  then 
practiced.  Among  the  first  instruments  used 
were  cannon,  smooth-bores  and  breech-loaders, 
soon  followed  by  the  arquebus  and  rampart  gun 
with  a  tripod,  or  "rest,"  fired  from  the  shoulder, 
with  a  pad  to  distribute  the  shock.  The  bullets, 
or  projectiles,  were  of  stone,  iron,  lead,  or  some 
other  metal,  samples  of  which  are  common  in 
the  arsenals  of  Europe  and  America. 

At  all  events,  in  that  century  the  knight  in  steel 
armor,  with  bow,  lance,  and  spear,  gave  place  to 
the  musketeer,  and  the  barons  with  their  retainers 
made  way  for  the  regular  captains,  lieutenants, 
sergeants,  corporals,  and  privates,  all  bound  by 
oath  to  serve  their  sovereign  for  specific  periods, 
and  with  regular  pay  and  allowances. 


APPENDIX.  437 

In  that  epoch  of  transition  there  lived  in 
Europe  great  men,  great  statesmen,  great 
scholars,  great  soldiers.  I  need  recall  no  name 
other  than  that  of  Shakespeare,  who  lived  in 
England  from  1564  to  1616,  whose  knowledge  of 
the  human  heart  and  brain,  and  whose  compre- 
hension of  the  motives  which  impel  human  action 
have  never  been  equaled  in  these  modern  times, 
with  all  their  inventions  and  all  their  professions 
of  superior  knowledge.  Shakespeare  referred  to 
gunpowder  in  his  "Henry  IV.,"  wherein  he  makes 
Harry  Percy  say  (Part  I.,  Act  I.,  Scene  3): 

"It  was  great  pity,  so  it  was, 
That  villanous  saltpetre  should  be  digg'd 
Out  of  the  bowels  of  the  harmless  earth, 
Which  many  a  good  tall  fellow  had  destroy'd 
So  cowardly ;  and  but  for  these  vile  guns, 
He  would  himself  have  been  a  soldier." 

If  any  of  the  present  generation  flatter  themselves 
that  they  are  better  and  wiser  than  their  ances- 
tors, let  them  read  Shakespeare;  also  the  second 
chapter  of  Dr.  Draper's  "Intellectual  Develop- 
ment of  Europe,"  Volume  II.,  wherein  it  is  de- 
monstrated that  learned  Moors  brought  algebra 


438         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

and  the  mathematical  sciences  into  Spain  centur- 
ies before  Columbus  was  born,  had  measured  on 
the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea  the  exact  length  of  a 
degree  of  the  earth's  meridan  and  the  obliquity 
of  the  ecliptic,  and  knew  enough  of  astronomy 
to  prove  the  rotundity  of  the  earth.  While  the 
professors  of  England,  France,  Italy  and  Germany 
were  teaching  that  the  earth's  surface  was  flat, 
the  Spanish  Moors  were  teaching  geography  in 
their  common  schools  from  globes.  Nevertheless, 
the  modern  world  was  not  yet  ready  for  the 
refined,  superior  civilization  of  the  Asiatics. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  occurred  three  great 
events — the  application  of  gunpowder  to  the  uses 
of  war;  the  invention  of  printing;  and  the  prac- 
tical discovery  of  America.  Gunpowder  gave 
rise  to  the  modern  science  of  war;  printing  to 
the  universal  dissemination  of  knowledge;  and 
America  gave  room  for  the  then  overcrowded, 
discontented,  and  adventurous  population  of 
Europe.  Out  of  that  chaotic  period  the  present 
states  of  Europe  crystallized,  resulting  in  clearly- 
defined  boundaries  of  territory,  the  population  of 
each  state  similar  in  language,  manners  and  cus- 


APPENDIX.  439 

toms,  and  each  governed  by  a  sovereign,  a  parlia- 
ment and  a  judiciary. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  of  France,  "le  grand 
monarque"  1638-1715,  was  rich  in  brilliant  men 
and  great  events.  Two  famous  soldiers,  the 
Prince  of  Conde  and  Turenne,  graced  this  period. 
The  former  has  left  us  some  wise  advice,  which 
may  well  be  pondered  by  every  young  officer  and 
soldier: 

"There  are  some  things  which  a  young  man  is 
absolutely  obliged  to  know  when  first  he  goes  to 
the  wars,  and  some  others  which  he  may  be 
ignorant  of  without  any  reflection  upon  his  honor. 
He  must  know  he  is  bound  to  respect  all  his 
superiors,  to  be  civil  to  his  equals,  to  be  courteous 
to  all  officers,  and  to  have  charity  for  all  those 
under  his  command.  But  this  charity  must  not 
extend  so  far  as  to  slacken  in  obliging  them  to 
perform  their  duty  to  the  full,  for  he  can  never  be 
too  severe  on  that  point.  The  knowledge  of 
these  matters  will  prevent  his  falling  into  many 
errors.  He  cannot  fail  in  point  of  respect  to  his 
superiors  without  being  reprimanded,  and  perhaps 
punished,  because  all  generals  take  care  that 


440          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN, 

every  man  have  his  due,  not  according  to  his  own 
birth,  but  to  his  post.  Therefore  a  young  gentle- 
man must  not  think  that  because  he  is  of  great 
quality  he  can  pay  the  less  respect  to  a  soldier  of 
fortune;  he  will  nev^r  be  in  the  wrong  in  giving 
him  all  manner  of  honor,  and  should  he  fail  in 
that  particular,  he  will  be  compelled  to  it.  In  the 
next  place,  if  he  is  civil  to  his  equals,  all  men  will 
value  him,  for  civility  wins  the  heart,  whereas 
everybody  hates  pride.  Thirdly,  if  he  is  courtly 
to  all  the  officers,  they  will  all  speak  well  of  him, 
and  he  may  hope  to  advance  his  fortune  that  way, 
as  well  as  by  his  brave  action  ;  reputation  in  war 
being  as  necessary  as  any  other  thing.  Lastly,  if 
he  has  charity  for  all  under  his  command,  he  must 
certainly  be  beloved,  which  will  be  no  small  ad- 
vantage to  him,  for  soldiers  never  forsake  an 

o 

officer  chey  love  upon  action ;  and  he  gains  much 
honor  by  their  sticking  close  to  him ;  whereas 
those  who  are  hated  by  their  men  are  often 
abandoned  by  them,  and  thus  shamefully  dis- 
graced, soldiers  sometimes  preferring  their  re- 
venge before  their  honor. 

"  As  for  the  lieutenant,  he  ought  to  know  full  as 


APPENDIX.  441 

much  as  a  captain,  his  duty  being  almost  the  same. 
He  is  often  detached  to  command  a  party  in  chief, 
or  a  guard  that  might  be  a  captain's,  and,  having 
nobody  there  to  advise  with,  he  must  have  exper- 
ience ;  for,  wanting  it,  the  consequences  may  be 
fatal.  I  have  seen  lieutenants  committed  to  the 
provost  for  having  behaved  themselves  like  mere 
novices  in  the  fight.  Therefore  I  would  never 
advise  a  yonng  man  to  be  a  lieutenant  at  first, 
because,  being  a  lieutenant,  there  will  not  be  so 
much  connivance  towards  him  as  if  he  was  a 
cornet.  Besides,  all  the  troops  depend  on  him 
and  the  quartermaster ;  so  that  if  the  troopers 
once  discover  his  weakness,  which  certainly  they 
will,  they  will  neither  value  nor  respect  him  ;  and 
it  were  better  for  him  to  be  no  officer  than  to  be 
so  contemned.  Besides,  his  ill  name  will  soon 
spread  throughout  the  whole  army,  the  common 
discourse  of  troopers  being  about  their  officers, 
whom  they  extol  to  the  very  skies  if  they  value 
them,  and  run  them  down  as  fast  if  they  under- 
value them.  In  short,  if  a  man  would  have  an 
account  of  any  officer,  he  need  only  set  his  troopers' 
tongues  a  running  upon  that  subject,  and  they  will 


442          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

tell  him  all  the   good  or  harm  they  know  with 
unspeakable  ingenuity." 

In  1779  was  published  in  America  the  volume 
of  Baron  Steuben's  tactics,  which  contains  the 
manual  of  arms  for  our  Revolutionary  Army. 
The  musket  was  then  a  flint-lock  muzzle-loader, 
with  single  ball  or  ball  and  buckshot,  effective  at 

O 

about-one  hundred  yards,  with  a  recoil  as  danger- 
'  ous  to  the  soldier  as  the  object  aimed  at.  For 
firing  and  loading  the  commands  were,  the  musket 
being  loaded  and  at  a  shoulder :  "  Poise  fire-lock  : 
Cock  fire-lock:  Take  aim  :  Fire."  "  Half  cock 
fire-lock  :  Handle  cartridge :  Prime :  Shut  pan  : 
Charge  with  cartridge :  Draw  rammer :  Ram 
down  cartridge :  Return  rammer :  Shoulder  fire- 
lock." 

Up  to  1840  we  had  the  same  old  flint-lock, 
smooth-bore  musket  with  paper  certridges,  and 
loaded  by  twelve  commands  :  "  Load  :  Open  pan  : 
Handle  cartridge:  Tear  cartridge:  Prime:  Shut 
pan  :  Cast  about :  Charge  cartridge  :  Draw  ram- 
rod: Ram  cartridge:  Return  ramrod:  Shoulder 
arms." 

About    1845    ^ie    percussion    cap,    previously 


APPENDIX.  443 

used  by  sportsmen,  was  adapted  to  the  smooth- 
bore muzzle-loader,  and  it  was  loaded  in  "ten 
times "  or  motions ;  gradually  reduced  to  four 
motions,  and  finally  to  one :  "  Load  at  will." 

Now,  in  1890,  every  recruit  knows  that  he  can 
load  his  rifle  and  fire  it  from  five  to  twenty  times 
a  minute,  thereby  exhausting  his  supply  of  sixty 
rounds  in  a  few  minutes,  whereas  as  late  as  our 
Civil  War  forty  rounds  in  the  cartridge-box  and 
twenty  in  the  haversack  were  a  full  allowance  for 
a  day's  fighting.  To  supply  an  army  engaged  in 
battle  will  henceforth  tax  the  supply  train,  for  it  is 
well  known  that  recruits  measure  a  battle  by  its 
noise,  whereas  the  veteran  measures  it  by  the 
effect;  hence  the  increased  value  of  experience. 
There  are  hundreds  of  most  valuable  patents  for 
modern  rifles ;  and  in  this  connection  I  will  only 
venture  the  statement  that  the  invention  of  the 
metallic  cartridge  was  the  parent  of  all,  and  that 
the  mechanism  of  the  breech  is  of  less  importance 
than  the  accurate  preparation  of  the  barrel. 

Meantime,  'corresponding  changes  have  oc- 
curred in  cannon  from  the  original  bars  of  iron 
held  in  place  by  rings,  to  the  mortar,  howitzer, 


444          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

field  and  siege  guns,  sea-coast  and  naval  guns,  all 
of  them  rifled  and  some  of  them  so  heavy  that 
steam  or  hydraulic  power  is  required  to  load  and 
fire  them  Armor  plates  of  steel  twenty  inches 
thick  are  used  to  protect  the  vital  parts  of  ships, 
and  even  the  gunners.  It  seems  to  me  that,  no 
matter  how  powerful  naval  ,guns  may  be  fabri- 
cated, our  land  guns,  resting  on  the  solid  earth, 
can  be  built  stronger,  while  steam  and  hydraulic 
power  may  raise  the  gun,  fire  with  precision,  and 
lower  away  behind  the  invulnerable  earth  ;  so  that 
the  old  ratio  is  not  changed,  that  five  guns  on  land 
are  equal  to  a  hundred  afloat. 

Anything  which  attempts  to  limit  danger  to  per- 
son in  war  is  a  mistake.  In  my  judgment,  the 
engine  of  a  man-of-war  should  be  protected  as 
far  as  possible  by  armor,  but  the  fighting  decks 
and  bulwarks  should  be  thin,  so  as  to  encourage 
the  shot  to  go  through  as  quickly  as  possible.  The 
same  of  our  sea-coast  forts.  A  few  twelve-inch 
rifles  at  the  salients  bearing  on  sea-channels,  with 
steel  casemates,  an  abundance  of  cheaper  ten  or 
fifteen-inch  barbette  or  embrasure  guns,  with 
spherical  cast-iron  shot  well  handled,  supple- 


APPENDIX.  445 

mented  by  entanglements  and  torpedoes,  will 
make  our  chief  seaports  comparatively  safe  against 
any  modern  fleet. 

The  progress  made  in  naval  and  seacoast  guns 
in  the  last  twenty-five  years  has  been  very  great, 
and  the  establishments  for  their  manufacture  have 
kept  pace  with  the  demand.  These  guns  and 
this  ammunition  are  very  costly  and  will  add 
largely  to  the  expenditures  of  the  next  war. 
They  also  demand  much  time  in  their  fabrication, 
and  therefore  a  supply  should  be  obtained  and 
stored  where  needed.  In  like  manner,  field 
guns  should  be  provided  in  advance  and  stored 
in  the  usual  arsenals.  A  new  army  requires  as 
many  as  six  guns  to  a  thousand  men,  but  after 
experience  these  may  be  reduced  to  three  or  even 
one,  as  was  the  case  in  my  long  march  from  At- 
lanta to  Raleigh  in  i864-'65- 

The  cavalry  of  the  world  have  probably  passed 
throueh  more  transitions  than  the  infantry  and 

o 

artillery.  They  are  the  immediate  successors  to 
the  knights  templar.  They  have  discarded  the 
casque,  cuirass,  and  coat  of  mail,  rendered  useless 
by  the  modern  pistol  and  carbine,  and  they  dress 


446         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.SHERMAN 

like  other  soldiers,  only  clinging  to  their  horses 
and  sabres.  They  take  their  place  in  line  of 
battle  usually  on  the  flanks,  often  detached  as 
"  the  eyes  of  the  army."  They  can  make  a  cir- 
cuit of  forty  or  fifty  miles  a  day,  while  the  infantry 
and  artillery  plod  their  fifteen  or  twenty ;  but  in  a 
march  of  a  thousand  miles,  as  is  recorded  of 
Alexander  the  Great,  the  infantry  arrive  first.  A 
man  is  a  more  perfect  animal  than  a  horse.  He 
can  live  on  two  pounds  of  food  a  day,  whereas  the 
horse  and  rider  must  have  twenty  ;  therefore  in 
all  times,  ancient  and  modern,  the  infantry  have 
composed — and  they  will  continue  to  compose — 
the  great  mass  of  all  armies.  The  chief  use  of 
the  cavalry  in  a  modern  army  is  to  supply  infor- 
mation;  to  watch  flank  movements ;  to  fight  on 
foot,  and,  when  the  enemy  is  in  retreat,  to  pursue 
and  gather  the  fruits  of  victory. 

Having  thus  rapidly  sketched  the  three  "arms'" 
into  which  all  modern  armies  are  resolved,  I  now 
desire  to  give  my  readers  the  benefit  of  some  per- 
sonal thoughts  and  experiences,  in  partial  answer 
to  the  question,  "  What  must  an  army  officer  do 
to  excel  in  his  profession  ?  " 


APPENDIX.  447 

We   all  know  what  he  must  not  do ;  and  the 
real  question  is  what  he  should  do. 

The  army  of  the  United  States  is  older  than 
the  present  government,  some  of  the  companies 
antedating  the  Revolutionary  War.  It  has  al- 
ways been  officered  by  men  of  marked  ability, 
whose  examples  are  the  precious  inheritance  of 
their  successors.  They  have  been  the  advance- 
guard  in  the  settlement  and  civilization  of  this 
continent.  Therefore  I  say  to  the  young  officer. 
Attend  with  scrupulous  fidelity  to  the  duties  of 
the  garrison  or  post  to  which  you  are  assigned, 
with  the  assurance  that  these  duties  are  based  on 
the  experience  of  your  predecessors,  as  good 
men  as  yourselves,  and  no  better.  The  govern- 
ment provides  the  officer  and  soldier  with  reason- 
able liberality,  so  that  they  must  not  embark  in 
trade,  business,  or  speculation  ;  for  a  man  cannot 
be  a  orood  soldier  if  his  thoughts  and  interests  are 

o  o 

elsewhere.  The  condition  of  the  junior  officers 
and  enlisted  men  of  our  army  has  been  largely 
improved.  They  are  better  paid,  better  clad,  have 
better  food  and  infinitely  better  quarters,  than 
fifty  years  ago. 


448          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  this  world  has  been  un- 
dergoing a  series  of  charges,  physical  and  intel- 
lectual, according  to  some  law  not  yet  discovered, 
and  that  it  is  sometimes  disturbed  by  aberrations 
such  as  happen  to  light,  electricity,  and  the  mo- 
tions of  the  planets  ;  yet  generally  the  world  moves, 
in  a  direction  of  "  betterment."  Nations,  like  in- 
dividuals, have  had  their  birth,  youth,  manhood, 
old  age  and  death ;  to  be  succeeded  by  others 
with  larger  proportions,  generally  with  better  op- 
portunities to  indulge  in  liberty  of  thought  and 
action,  the  enjoyment  of  their  inheritance  and  the 
fruits  of  their  own  labor. 

To  this  class  of  men  the  discovery  of  Amer- 
ica gave  great  stimulus,  and  the  facility  of 
spreading  news  by  means  of  the  art  of  printing 
made  the  exodus  from  Europe  universal,  result- 
ing in  many  colonies  of  every  type  and  kind  of 
people  more  or  less  independent  of  the  States 
from^which  they  had  come  and  of  each  other;  yet 
all  obeying  the  general  law  that  like  races  come 
together  for  mutual  protection  and  social  advan- 
tage. 

Every  army  officer  is    now   required  to  know 


APPENDIX.  449 

the  history  of  his  own  country  and  of  its  institu- 
tions, of  the  colonies,  of  the  War  of  Independence, 
the  subsequent  war  with  Great  Britain,  the  Mex- 
ican War  and  the  Civil  War,  all  of  which  were 
conflicts  of  arms  made  necessary  by  social  and 
political  causes,  all  resulting  in   a  step  forward ; 
and  he    further  knows  that   his  country  extends 
3,000  miles  from  the  Adantic  to  the  Pacific,  1,000 
miles    from    the    lakes    to   the    Gulf  of   Mexico, 
wholly  within  the  best  latitudes  for  civilization — 
latitudes    producing   the    types   of    men   of  the 
largest  physical  and  mental  strength,  possessing 
the  largest  measure  of  liberty  ever  enjoyed  by 
any  people  on  earth,  and  therefore  most  liable  to 
civil  convulsions.     We  have  no  personal  sover- 
eign :  our  sovereignty  remains  with  the  people, 
whose  will    may  be  theoretically  ascertained   by 
fair  means  under  a  written  constitution,  symbol- 
ized by  a  common  flag  known  the  world  over  as 
the  "  Stars  and  Stripes,"  with  the  motto  "  E  Pluri- 
bus  Unum  " — one  nation  composed  of  forty-four 
States,  each  with  exact  boundaries,  and  with  pow- 
ers as  clearly  defined  as  can  be  done  by  words. 
Under    this    system,    though    wrong   may  be 
29 


45J         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAlf. 

done  to  individuals  and  even  to  communities  for  a 
time,  tyranny  and  oppression  are  impossible. 
With  us,  as  with  all  other  governments,  monarchical 
or  imperial,  the  actual  administration  is  subdivi- 
ded into  legislative,  judicial  and  executive.  These 
may  at  times  create  a  conflict  with  each  other, 
but  there  is  less  liability  of  it  with  us  than  under 
any  other  form  of  government.  Yet  as  every 
court  must  have  its  marshal  or  sheriff,  so  must 
every  State  and  the  general  government  have  an 
armed  force  to  compel  obedience  to  its  decrees. 
On  this  branch  of  the  subject  there  can  be  no 
better  authority  than  the  Constitution  itself,  the 
judgments  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  pre- 
cepts of  Washington. 

Army  officers  cannot  be  expected  to  follow 
all  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  but  they 
may  easily  master  the  two  volumes  of  Bancroft's 
"  History  of  the  Formation  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,"  published  in  January,  1882, 
which  describe  with  great  precision  the  confusion 
which  prevailed  in  the  old  .Continental  Congress 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,  the  utter  failure 
of  the  confederation  of.  the  thirteen  colonies,  with 


APPENDIX.  451 

all  their  impracticable  prejudices  and  diverse 
interests,  and  the  final  adoption  of  our  present 
Constitution,  of  which  Mr.  Gladstone  has  written  : 
"As  the  British  Constitution  is  the  most  subtile 
organism  which  has  proceeded  from  progressve 
history,  so  the  American  Constitution  is  the  most 
wonderful  work  ever  struck  off  at  a  given  time  by 
the  brain  and  purpose  of  man." 

By  our  Constitution  the  power  to  declare  war, 
create  an  army  or  navy,  make  rules  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  land  and  naval  forces,  call  forth 
the  militia,  etc.,  is  committed  to  the  National 
Congress,  and  when  these  forces  are  called  into 
the  service  of  the  United  States,  the  President 
becomes  the  commander-in-chief  thereof.  Of 
course  he  cannot  be  expected  to  command  in  per- 
son a  navy  on  the  high  seas  or  an  army  in  the 
field :  these  duties  must  be  committed  to  subor- 
dinates, and  it  is  to  these  subordinates  that  I 
address  this  paper. 

During  our  Civil  War  many  a  young  lieuten- 
ant became  a  colonel,  brigadier,  major-general, 
corps  or  army  commander,  in  one,  two  and  three 
years,  without  a  book  save  the  "  Army  Regula- 


452          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  'SHERMAN. 

tions ; "  and  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  com- 
manded detachments,  with  power  over  life  and 
death,  with  little  knowledge  of  the  great  laws  of 
war.  Of  the  valuable  treatises  on  this  subject  I 
always  prefer  that  of  "  The  Rights  of  War  and 
Peace,"  by  Hugo  Grotius  (born  in  Holland), 
translated  into  English  and  published  in  London, 
1738 — a  book  which  ought  to  be  found  in  every 
good  library.  Every  army  officer  should  make 
Grotius  his  text-book,  just  as  every  lav/yer  makes 

Coke  and  Blackstone  his. 

• 

In  time  of  war  the  armies  of  the  United  States 
are  rightfully  and  lawfully  invested  with  extraor- 
dinary powers,  always  subject  to  the  national 
government,  and  in  time  of  peace,  being 
composed  of  citizens,  they  are  further  sub- 
ject and  subordinate  to  the  civil  code  of 
the  locality ;  but  when  the  storm  comes, 
when  Congress,  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the 
President  are  defied,  insulted,  and  maligned,  as 
occurred  in  1861,  then  comes  in  that  new,  but 
long-existent,  code  of  war;  and  it  is  to  the  interestof 
every  citizen  of  the  United  States  that  the  army 
officers  should  be  not  only  honest  and  patriotic, 


APPENDIX.  453 

but  intelligent  and  learned  enough  to  understand 
the  nature  of  the  power  thus  imposed  on  them. 
No  officer  of  the  United  States  army  has  ever 
questioned  or  ever  will  question  the  fundamen- 
tal principles  of  our  Constitution ;  but  when  the 
Congress  has  declared  war,  has  provided  the 
ways  and  means,  and  the  President,  as  constitu- 
tional commander-in-chief,  has  indicated  the 
measures,  then  the  soldier  goes  in  with  confidence 
to  restore  peace.  Of  these  measures  the  com- 
manding officer  on  the  spot  must  often  be  the  sole 
judge.  The  law  then  becomes  the  law  of  war  and 
not  of  peace. 

In  this  article  I  have  purposely  abstained 
from  treating  of  general  and  staff  officers.  In 
my  judgment,  a  goocj,  well-managed  garrison  on 
the  frontier,  or  anywhere,  is  the  best  possible 
school  for  generals,  and  even  staff  officers;  and  I 
shall  regard  it  as  a  fatal  mistake  if  the  cavalry 
and  artillery  shall  be  withdrawn  from  the  school  of 
application  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  because  the 
three  arms  of  the  service  should  be  associated  in 
daily  duties,  on  drill,  and  on  the  march,  so  that 
when  war  compels  them  to  be  assembled  in  the 


454         LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

same  army,  as  must  inevitably  be  the  case,  their 
habits  will  be  already  established.  Out  of  these 
will  come  the  natural  leaders,  who  can  select  the 
necessary  staff  or  assistants. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 


APPENDIX.  455 


CAMP-FIRES  OF  THE  G.  A.  R. 

A    RECENT  visit  to  Columbus,  Ohio,  Septem- 
ber  10-14,  convinces  me  that  the  young 
people,  male  and  female,  of  the  interior   of  our 
country  feel  an  increased  interest  in  the  events  of 
the  Civil  War. 

I  did  believe,  and  may  have  so  expressed  my- 
self in  former  years,  that  the  interest,  enthusiasm 
and  6lan  would  die  out  with  one  or  two  genera- 
tions ;  but  not  so.  There  were  present  at  Co- 
lumbus as  many  ex-soldiers,  their  wives,  children 
and  families,  as  could  have  been  assembled  in 
1865;  as  many  as  forty  thousand  ex-soldiers  and 
sixty  thousand  citizens,  male  and  female,  other 
than  the  resident  population  (eighty  thousand)  of 
that  capital  city.  This  is  not  a  mere  guess,  but  a 
professional  estimate  based  on  numbers  and  meas- 
urements made  on  the  spot.  The  same  or  simi- 
lar results  have  been  noted  at  Toledo,  Indiana- 
polis, Springfield  and  St.  Paul.  The  people  of  the 


456          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

great  Northwest,  whose  first  centennial  was  in 
part  the  occasion  of  the  recent  meeting  at  Colum- 
bus, are  more  peculiarly  American  than  similar 
crowds  elsewhere,  and  give  us  one  element  of 
value  in  the  problem  of  integral  calculus  for  the 
"next  centennial" 

I  mingled*  with  this  crowd  in  halls,  in  great  tents 
and  on  the  streets — and  though  individuals  took 
liberties  with  my  hand  and  person  not  contem- 
plated by  army  regulations,  I  will  bear  witness 
that  in  the  four  days  of  my  stay  I  did  not  hear  a 
coarse  word,  see  a  single  drunken  man,  or  ob- 

'  O 

serve  any  infraction  of  the  common  police  regu- 
lations for  crowds.  I  have  known  Columbus  from 
boyhood,  and  am  sure  the  people  to-day  are  bet- 
ter and  more  refined  than  they  were  fifty  years 
ago.  In  accomplishing  this  result  the  Civil  War 
and  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  have  been 
important  factors;  and  in  this  paper  I  desire  to 
invite  public  attention  to  one  feature  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic — its  "camp-fire."  The 
mere  name  suggests  its  object.  Imagine  a  group 
of  intelligent  soldiers  after  night — the  march  done 
— supper  over,  and  things  put  away  for  an  early 


APPENDIX.  457 

start— a  clear  sky  above  and  a  bright  fire  beneath, 
you  have  the  perfection  of  human  comfort,  and 
the  most  perfect  incentive  to  good  fellowship.  Of 
course  to  make  the  scene  more  perfect  there  must 
enter  the  element  of  danger,  but  that  is  now  past, 
and  the  "camp  fire"  of  the  Grand  Army  is  a 
mere  assemblage  of  comrades  absolutely  on  an 
equal  footing,  regardless  of  former  rank,  yet  sub- 
ject to  self-imposed  discipline;  the  comrades  may 
be  seated  round  their  hall  or  at  tables,  with  the 
simplest  and  cheapest  fare,  when  they  sing  their 
old  war  songs,  tell  their  old  war  stories,  or  in  the 
soldier's  phrase  "swap  lies,"  and  transact  their 
business  of  "charity."  Now  at  this  very  hour 
around  their  many  camp-fires  are  being  spun  the 
yarns  which  in  time  will  be  the  warp  and  woof  of 
history.  For  mathematical  accuracy,  one  should 
go  to  the  interesting  tables  of  statistics  compiled 
by  adjutants-general,  but  for  the  living,  radiant 
truth,  commend  me  to  the  "camp-fire."  My 
memory  of  camp-fires  goes  back  to  the  everglades 
of  Florida,  and  the  days  of  the  trappers  in  the 
Rockies  and  California,  and  people  who  suppose 
these  men  were  rude,  coarse  and  violent,  are 


458          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

sadly  mistaken.  Roubideaux  was  the  gentlest, 
least  offensive  man  I  ever  saw;  but  if  a  thieving 
Pi-Ute  tried  at  night  to  steal  his  picketed  mule, 
he  became  a  good,  i.  e.t  a  dead  Indian.  Kit 
Carson  always  avoided  danger,  sometimes  would 
go  two  or  three  days  out  of  his  course  to  avoid 
danger,  but  when  it  stared  him  in  the  face  his  eye 
was  as  clear  as  crystal,  and  his  nerves  as  steady 
as  forged  steel.  Carson  was  usually  taciturn, 
but  on  occasions  would  "swap  lies"  with  the  most 
expert.  F.  X.  Aubry  was  to  me  the  most  satis- 
factory, because  with  paper  and  pencil  he  could 
delineate  the  country  passed  over,  and  describe 
its  features  as  to  wood,  water  and  grass,  all  that 
man  and  horse  needed  in  those  halcyon  days. 
The  Bents,  Campbells  and  St.  Vrain  were  traders 
of  a  higher  type  than  the  trappers.  Of  this  latter 
class,  Jim  Brid^er  always  at  a  camp-fire  carried 
off  the  palm.  One  night  after  supper,  when 
gathered  round  a  real  camp-fire  on  Bear  Creek,  a 
comrade  inquired:  "Jim,  were  you  ever  down  at 
Zuni?"  "No!  there  are  no  beaver  thar."  "But, 
Jim,  there  are  some  things  in  this  world  besides 
beaver.  I  was  down  there  last  winter  and  saw 


APPENDIX.  459 

great  trees  with  limbs  and  bark  on,  all  turned  into 
stone."  "Oh!"  rejoined  Jim,  "them's  called 
petrifactions;  come  with  me  to  the  Yellowstone 
next  summer  and  I  will  show  you  petrified  trees 
a-growing,  with  petrified  birds  singing  petrified 
songs."  Now,  it  so  happens  that  I  have  been  to 
the  Yellowstone,  have  seen  the  petrified  trees 
"a-growing,"  but  not  the  petrified  birds  or  petri- 
fied songs.  The  geysers  of  the  Yellowstone  at 
intervals  eject  hot  water  supersaturated  with 
carbonate  of  lime  and  geyserite  to  a  height  of  a 
hundred  and  fifty  feet.  This  water  is  carried  as 
mist  laterally  by  the  wind  two  or  three  hundred 
feet,  saturating  growing  trees,  gradually  convert- 
ing that  side  to  stone,  while  the  off-side  has  living 
branches.  So  Jim  Bridger's  story  was  not  all  a 
lie,  only  partly  so.  Mr.  Tiffany,  of  Union  Square, 
is  at  this  moment  working  up  the  petrified  trees 
of  Zuni  and  of  the  Little  Colorado  into  exquisite 
ornaments. 

There  is  an  old  maxim  of  lawyers,  "Falsus 
in  uno,  falsus  in  omnibus,"  good  enough  doctrine 
for  the  courts,  but  not  the  "  camp-fire."  Does  any 
man  question  the  truth  of  Gil  Bias  or  Don 


460          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

Quixote  Are  not  the  Pickwick  papers  literally 
true  ?  Or  what  American  will  permit  a  bloody 
Britisher  to  dispute  the  entire  truth  of  Rip  Van 
Winkle,  or  the  Legend  of  Sleepy  Hollow  ?  As 
well  doubt  that  Tarn  O'Shanter  saw  the  dance 
of  witches  and  had  a  close  call  with  his  "  Maggie  " 
at  the  Bridge  of  Ayr.  The  camp-fire  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  is  only  a  continua- 
tion of  what  occurred  "  during  the  war,"  adding 
wit  and  romance  to  relieve  the  great  mental  strain 
when  each  soldier  realized  that  the  next  day 
might  be  his  last — he  did  not  dread  death,  but 
mangling,  wounds,  the  hospital  and  captivity,  were 
ever  present  to  his  mind,  sleeping  or  waking. 
These  fears  and  apprehensions  are  now  far  in  the 
past,  and  no  wonder  the  soldiers  of  1861-65  meet 
again  at  their  camp-fires  to  "swap  lies,"  and  should 
they  exaggerate  their  own  powers  and  deeds  of 
valor,  I  know  that  a  sweet  angel  will  blot  out  the 
sin.  In  illustration  I  will  venture  to  give  one  of  a 
thousand  instances  which  have  occurred  to  me 
personally. 

After  the  war  was  over  I  was  stationed  in  St. 
Louis  with  absolute  command  over  all  the  region 


APPENDIX.  461 

west  of  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Rockies,  and 
gave  much  personal  attention  to  the  protection  of 
the  parties  engaged  in  building  the  Pacific  rail- 
roads west  from  Omaha  and  Kansas  City,  the 
country  then  being  infested  by  the  most  warlike 
tribes  of  Indians  on  the  continent,  the  Sioux, 
Kiowas,  Arapahos  and  Cheyennes,  who  knew  that 
the  building  of  these  railroads  would  result  in  the 
destruction  of  the  buffalo,  on  whose  meat  they 
subsisted,  and  whose  hides  made  their  lodges.  It 
was,  in  fact,  a  continuous  warfare,  following  the 
close  of  the  great  Civil  War,  and  though  Con- 
gress utterly  ignored  the  fact,  I  had  in  Sheridan 
and  Hancock,  Terry  and  Auger,  good  lieutenants, 
and  we  won  that  war  as  we  had  previously  the 
greater,  but  not  more  important  one. 

I  was  seated  at  my  table  at  St.  Louis  in  the 
office  over  a  clothing  store,  corner  of  Washing- 
ton Avenue  and  Fourth  street,  absorbed  in  my 
subject,  when  I  became  conscious  that  a  man  in 
rough  garb,  with  a  broad-brimmed  hat,  was 
addressing  me — I  had  no  sentinel  or  orderly.  He 
grasped  my  hand  familiarly,  called  me  Uncle 
Billy,  was  delighted  to  see  me  in  apparent  good 


462         LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

health,  inquired  about  the  family,  and  finally 
announced  that  he  was  "dead  broke,"  and  must 
raise  $26.50  somehow  to  get  his  trunk  out  of 
pawn,  and  to  reach  his  home  in  Ohio.  I  naturally 
inquired  what  claim  he  had  on  me.  Oh !  of  course 
he  was  one  of  my  boys  ;  he  had  been  a  lieutenant 
in  the  — th  Ohio  Cavalry ;  had  fought  with  me  at 
Chattanooga,  Knoxville,  Atlanta,  etc.,  and  being  a 
perfect  stranger  in  St.  Louis,  had  come  to  me  as 
his  "uncle."  He  did  not  remove  his  hat,  which 
made  me  suspicious ;  still  he  gave  correct  date 
and  place  for  every  event  of  his  regiment,  from 
luka,  Miss.,  to  Raleigh,  N.  C.  At  last  he  tripped. 
"  Don't  you  remember,  General,"  he  said,  "  the 
Grand  Day  at  Washington  when  we  passed  the 

President  in  review  ;  that  was  a  glorious  day " 

"  Yes,  my  good  sir,"  said  I,  "  I  left  the — th  Ohio  at 
Raleigh  with  Kilpatrick."  With  hat  still  on,  he 
pondered  some  minutes,  and  then,  with  beaming 
face,  "  Uncle  Billy,  it  was  not  all  a  lie  ;  I  confess  I 
lied  some,  but  I  was  in  truth  a  lieutenant  in  the 
— th  Ohio  Cavalry,  and  have  since  the  war  been  out 
on  the  plains  as  a  teamster,  and  have  told  the  story 
so, often  that  I  believed  it  myself ;  the  story  is  true 


APPENDIX.  463 

up  to  Raleigh,  but  after  that  it  is  fiction.  The 
Cheyennes  jumped  our  train  near  Fort  Wallace, 
got  the  mules,  burned  the  wagons,  and  left  me  on 
the  ground  scalped  and  dead.  The  soldiers  came 
out  from  the  for.t,  took  me  into  the  hospital,  where 
I  was  kindly  and  skillfully  treated,  and  got  well, 
but  the  scalp  is  gone."  With  that  he  removed  his 
hat,  bowed  his  head,  and  the  "  hair  was  gone." 

This  was  the  reason  why  in  my  presence  he 
had  not  stood  "  hat  in  hand"  in  the  presence  of  his 
superior  officer  as  he  should  have  done.  It  so 
happened  that  I  had  been  to  Fort  Wallace  about 
the  time  when  that  train  was  "jumped,"  and  Gen- 
eral A.  J.  Smith,  who  also  happened  to  be  near  by 
at  the  time,  confirmed  the  general  fact.  So  that 
among-  us  we  raised  the  $26.5010  get  his  trunk 

^>  Tr  **  <J 

out  of  pawn,  and  buy  a  ticket  for  him  to  his  home 
in  Ohio.  I  have  completely  forgiven  him,  and 
have  never  seen  him  since. 

A  somewhat  similar  circumstance  occurred  to 
General  Zachary  Taylor  in  1850 —then  President 
of  the  United  States — as  told  me  by  one  of  his 
household.  General  Taylor  was  a  magnificent 
type  of  the  soldier  of  his  day  and  generation  ;  had 


464          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

served  in  the  Regular  Army  on  the  frontier  con- 
tinuously from  1808  till  1849,  when  he  was  elected 
President  of  the  United  States  chiefly  by  reason 
of  his  sturdy  manly  qualities  and  his  brilliant  suc- 
cess at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  Mexico,  Febru- 
ary 22,  1847.  In  this  battle  General  Taylor,  with 
an  army  of  5,000  volunteers,  defended  his  position 
against  21,000  Mexican  regulars,  led  in  person  by 
General  Santa  Anna,  President  and  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  Mexico. 

When  in  March,  1849,  General  Taylor  was 
installed  in  his  office  of  President,  he  was  furi- 
ously assailed  for  place  and  office  by  his  old  war 
comrades.  Among  these  was  a  citizen  of  Missis- 
sippi, who  sent  on  his  petition  to  be  made  post- 
master of  his  town,  professing  to  be  a  "  good 
Whig,"  was  indorsed  by  his  neighbors,  but  rested 
his  claims  chiefly  on  the  fact  that  he  was  in  the 
First  Mississippi  at  Buena  Vista.  He  expected 
his  appointment  by  return  mail,  but  not  receiving 
it,  as  is  usual,  he  went  to  Washington  to  learn  the 
reason  why.  Obtaining  access  to  the  Postmaster- 
General  (Collamer,  of  Vermont),  he  was  simply 
disgusted  that  in  Washington  the  great  arid  bloody 


APPENDIX.  465 

battle  of  Buena  Vista  was  held  secondary  to  the 
Whig  vote  of  North  Carolina.  So  our  Mis- 
sissippi candidate  pushed  his  way  into  the  White 
House,  and  laid  his  claims  for  office  before  Presi- 
dent Taylor.  He  described  the  ridge  at  Buena 
Vista  projecting  toward  the  road  by  which  the 
Mexicans  were  approaching  in  solid  phalanx — 
how  the  first  Mississippi  formed  line  to  the  front, 
then  changed  to  the  left  to  repel  the  attack ;  again 
changed  front  to  the  right,  and  last  doubled 
column  on  the  centre,  and  charged,  driving  the 
bloody  Mexicans  off  the  field. 

General  Taylor  listened  with  great  patience,  as 
was  his  habit,  but  when  the  embryo  postmaster 
slackened  in  his  eloquence  and  gave  him  a  chance, 
he  answered :  "  I  used  to  think  I  was  at  the  battle 
of  Buena  Vista  myself,  but  since  I  have  come  to 
Washington,  I  have  heard  of  so  many  things 
which  happened  down  there,  that  I  am  convinced 
I  was  not  there  at  all."  My  inference  is  that  the 
self-constituted  Mississippi  hero  never  became  a 
postmaster  for  Uncle  Sam.  And  I  also  hear  of 
so  many  things  which  happened  at  Dalton,  Re- 
saca,  Marietta,  Atlanta,  that  I  am  inclined  to  be- 
30 


466          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

lieve  that  the  man  who  marched  down  to  the  sea 
was  another  fellow  of  the  same  name  as  myself. 
Nevertheless,  for  this  very  reason  I  believe  in 
modern  "  camp-fires."  They  afford  opportunities 
for  wit  and  humor,  they  prick  the  bubbles  of  the 
boastful  and  stamp  as  genuine  the  pure  gold  of 
heroic  action  and  of  patient  endurance.  No  man 
can,  to-day,  go  to  a  camp-fire  of  any  Grand  Army 
Post,  and  successfully  boast  of  deeds  not  genuine 
without  certain  exposure.  Brothers  reared  under 
the  same  roof  know  and  love  each  other  well,  but 
a  day,  or  week,  or  year  of  war  comradeship  in  the 
same  company  begets  a  knowledge  of  character 
not  possible  elsewhere.  In  peace  we  must  ac- 
cept a  man  on  his  own  word.  Not  so  in  war ;  the 
truth  is  then  revealed,  as  it  were,  by  the  lightning's 
flash.  In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  we  segregate 
the  true  from  the  false,  the  brave  from  the  timid, 
the  earnest  from  the  doubtful. 

There  were  then  (1850)  no  Grand  Army  posts  ; 
now  there  are  over  four  thousand,  and  the  amount 
of  good  and  charity  done  by  them  cannot  be 
measured  by  dollars  and  cents.  For  years  after 
the  war  our  men  wandered  over  the  land  seeking 


APPENDIX.  467 

the  employment  they  had  given  up  to  take  a 
musket  to  save  the  union  and  government.  Of 
course  that  crisis  is  now  past,  but  a  greater 
danger  lurks — the  next  generation  may  conclude 
that  the  wise  man  stays  at  home,  and  leaves  the 
fool  to  take  the  buffets  and  kicks  of  war.  This 
danger  can  best  be  met  by  just  such  an  organiza- 
tion as  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  with  its 
camp-fires  of  song  and  story,  to  irradiate  the 
gloom  of  ordinary  humdrum  existence  where  an 
Auditor  of  the  Treasury  would  measure  a  "life" 
as  he  would  a  bushel  of  spoiled  oats. 

All  I  mean  by  this  paper  is  to  encourage  the 
men  who  "  saved  the  Union "  to  be  of  good 
cheer ;  to  meet  often  at  camp-fires  ;  sing  their  old 
songs ;  tell  their  stories  with  reasonable  exagger- 
ations, and  always  cultivate  the  comradeship  be- 
gotten of  war,  the  charity  which  blesses  him  who 
gives  as  well  as  him  who  receives,  and  a  loyalty 
that  ordains  that  the  "penalty  for  treason  is 

death." 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 


468          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 


RESPONSE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

IV/TR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN: 
On  your  bill  of  fare  you  will  see  that  Gen- 
eral Sherman's  name  is  written  down  for  the  toast 
to  the  army.  I  have  heard  that  before.  But  I 
believe  they  generally  concede  to  me  the  privilege 
of  skirmishing  around  a  good  deal.  You  show 
the  effect  of  it,  too,  when  'you  are  approaching  a 
mass  of  timber  and  know  some  one  is  lying 
around  there  loose.  Just  burst  a  couple  of  shells 
in  it  and  you  will  find  out.  I  burst  a  couple  of 
shells,  too,  and  I  found  out.  I  don't  intend  to  mar 
an  occasion  like  this  with  anything  but  feelings  of 
mutual  respect  and  love.  Sometimes  it  is  well  to 
stir  up  things — it  increases  the  interest.  Whether 
Portland,  Oregon,  or  Portland,  Maine,  is  the  more 
beautiful  city  makes  no  difference,  they  both  be- 
long to  us.  And  it  is  so  with  the  Army  of  the 

*  Delivered  at  the  2ist  Annual  Reunion  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  held  at  Portland,  Me.,  July  3d  and  4th,  1890. 


APPENDIX.  469 

Potomac  and  the  armies  of  the  West.  I  know 
Gen.  Walker  too  well  to  find  .fault  with  him.  He 
thought  there  were  enough  here  to  speak  for  the 
Western  armies,  and  I  merely  availed  myself  of 
the  opportunity  to  tell  some  anecdotes,  some  of 
which  led  to  others. 

I  have  attended  a  great  many  of  these  army 
meetings  and  talked  more  at  them,  perhaps,  than 
I  ought  to  have  done.  In  my  early  days  it  was 
thought  discreditable  for  an  army  officer  to  speak 
ten  words  in  succession.  The  most  you  could 
get  out  of  old  officers  was  "  Obey  orders ! "  "  Mind 
your  own  business!"  But  sometimes  it  is  well, 
where  you  have  anything  to  say,  to  say  it  in  a 
frank,  earnest  manner.  That  is  my  object,  and  I 
hope  never  to  give  offence,  and  I  hope  I  have  not 
done  so  to-day  at  all.  I  myself  have  stood  on 
yonder  White  Mountains  when  the  wind  was 
blowing  a  hundred  miles  an  hour,  with  the  house 
chained,  to  the  rocks  and  yet  swaying  like  a  ship 
at  sea,  and  from  its  summit— six  thousand  feet 
they  call  it— I  could  behold  this  city  of  Portland 
lying  at  its  feet,  a  beautiful  panorama,  and  ships 
sailing  on  the  ocean  beyond,  all  like  a  miniature 


470          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  IVM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

map.  It  was  the  clearest  day,  the  sergeant  told 
me,  on  that  mountain  that  he  had  ever  seen.  That 
was  two  or  three  years  ago.  I  have  also  looked 
for  the  mountain  to-day,  but  I  didn't  see  it,  be- 
cause it  was  raining,  which  is  a  normal  condition 
here,  I  believe.  The  mayor  says  you  will  have  a 
bright  day  to-morrow.  He  is  sensible  of  the 
kindness  of  Providence  for  giving  you  an  occa- 
sional pleasant  day.  It  is  the  same  way  in 
Portland,  Oregon.  It  sometimes  drizzles  there 
for  five  months  without  cessation,  and  then  you 
have  lovely  weather  and  you  forget  about  the 
drizzle.  But  there  stands  old  Mt.  Hood,  and  I 
know  it  will  be  there  the  next  time  I  go  out  there, 
and  I  am  going  to  loojc  at  it  for  two  weeks.  But 
whether  it  is  a  better  town  than  this  city  is  not  for 
me  to  determine. 

Now  as  to  the  army,  gentlemen,  that  is  a  very 
old  subject.  It  is  written  that  brave  men  lived 
before  Agamemnon.  I  dpn't  know  whether  you 
know  when  Agamemnon  lived.  He  was  no 
acquaintance  of  mine.  And  there  were  armies 
before  the  days  of  Caesar,  well  organized  armies, 
too.  Indeed,  you  who  have  read  the  Bible — I 


APPENDIX.  471 

don't  think  you  read  it  much  up  here — you  re- 
member the  captains  of  tens,  and  of  hundreds,  and 
of  thousands — that  is  organization,  the  very  basis 
of  all  military  tactics.  The  next  thing  is  grand 
strategy — what  is  to  be  done  ?  Common  sense 
applied  to  the  art  of  war.  You  have  got  to  do 
something.  What  is  that  something?  You  have 
got  to  have  it  defined  in  your  mind.  You  can't 
go  around  asking  corporals  and  sergeants.  You 
must  make  it  out  in  your  own  mind  and  ascer- 
tain what  you  intend  to  do.  Then  the  method 
by  which  it  is  to  be  done — tactics — comes  in 
merely  as  a  means  to  an  end.  You  can't  handle 
a  hundred  men  loosely  scattered.  Forrest,  the 
rebel  general  of  cavalry,  had  only  two  commands 
in  his  tactics.  I  don't  know  whether  he  could  read 
or  not,  but  his  tactics  consisted  in  this,  "scatter 
like  the  volunteers,"  and  "huddle  like  the  regu- 
lars." 

Now  the  third  great  principle-  embraced  in  the 
art  of  war,  and  it  has  been  an  art,  is  now  and  ever 
will  be,  just  as  much  as  medicine,  mechanics,  or 
engineering,  there  must  be  one  mind  to  direct  the 
whole.  In  all  civil  governments  the  many  gov- 


472          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

ern  the  few.  In  the  army  one  mind  governs,  but 
behind  it  is  the  authority  of  law.  There  is  no 
general  on  this  continent  that  is  independent  of 
the  law,  and  the  President  is  the  minister  of  that 

law. 

i 

Now  when  a  campaign  is  laid  out,  you  first 
want  a  well  organized  army  suitable  to  the  object 
to  be  done.  Next,  you  must  have  it  so  governed 
by  tactics,  wheeling  to  right  and  left,  facing 
about  so  as  to  fight  in  every  direction.  I  remem- 
ber on  one  occasion  I  rode  to  a  colonel  of  volun- 
teers, a  brave,  good  man — dead  now,  poor  fellow! 
I  said,  "  Colonel,  take  two  companies  and  deploy 
them  ten  paces  apart  and  see  what  is  in  that 
timber."  He  looked  at  me  as  much  as  to  say, 
"What  are  you  talking  about?"  I  said,  "Deploy 
your  two  companies  ten  paces  apart,  and  do  it 
quick !"  He  looked  as  dumb  as  a  pig.  A  little 
major  stepped  up  and  said,  "  General,  I  under- 
stand you  perfectly."  I  said,  "Do  it  then."  Now 
it  wasn't  that  the  major  was  braver,  but  he  knew 
how,  and  that  how  was  very  important.  Now 
that  is  the  only  reason  why  those  soldiers  who 
were  instructed  before  the  war  are  better  than 


APPENDIX.  473 

those  gathered  together  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war. 

Now  the  army  of  the  United  States  is  not  com- 
posed merely  of  the  enlisted  men  and  the  officers 
—that  is  not  the  army  of  the  United  States. 
The  Secretary  of  War  has  stated  properly  that 
the  whole  population  is  the  army.  Of  them,  we 
have  about  eight  millions — a  very  respectable 
army,  gentlemen,  comparable  with  that  of  Russia 
or  any  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe.  But  of 
course  out  of  this  mass  of  men  must  be  taken  a 
few  like  your  State  troops,  making  a  force  say 
double  the  regular  army.  The  government  could, 
at  little  more  than  the  cost  of  the  present  army, 
maintain  one  hundred  thousand  men,  all-sufficient 
for  all  the  chances  of  war  in  the  near  future. 

We  cannot  see  far  ahead,  but  the  art  of  war 
should  be  kept  pure  and  simple,  and  at  the  base  of 
it  should  be  patriotism,  that  love  and  devotion  to  our 
country — to  the  whole  country,  not  to  any  little 
piece  of  it,  or  to  any  State  because  you  happen  to 
be  born  there,  but  to  the  whole  United  States. 

And  what  is  the  emblem  of  that  power  that 
binds  our  hearts  ?  It  is  over  your  heads  now, 


474          LIFE  OF  GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 

gentlemen.  In  these  navy  pennants  you  see 
fluttering  in  the  breeze  all  around  your  beau- 
tiful city,  the  birthday  of  our  national  inde- 
pendence. But  I  have  seen  it  upon  the  high  seas. 
I  have  seen  it  come  out  of  the  water,  first  a  little 
fluttering  something  with  glasses  pointed  to  it. 
Little  by  little  it  comes  above  the  horizon,  more 
and  more  your  glass  tells  you  there  is  red  and 
there  are  white  and  blue.  And  the  ship  rises 
above  the  horizon  and  you  see  the  gallant-masts, 
and  the  royals  coming  up  also,  and  recognize  the 
star-spangled  banner,  and  your  heart  beats  with 
a  new  throbbing  worth  living  for. 

Yes,  my  friends  ;  on  the  vast  plains  of  the  West 
I  have  seen  the  same  thing.  As  you  approach 
one  of  those  little  military  posts,  perhaps  of  one 
or  two  companies,  there  is  the  flag.  You  look 
for  it  and  see  it  fluttering  on  the  flag-staff,  and  you 
feel  at  home  just  as  soon  as  you  recognize  the  stars 
on  the  blue  field.  You  and  I  have  seen  it  on  the  bat- 
tle-field, and  when  you  have  recognized  it  coming  to 
your  aid  when  you  have  needed  aid,  oh!  how 
beautiful  it  was !  You  all  know  that  feeling. 
Certainly  I  do,  and  I  can  recall  a  thousand 


APPENDIX.  475 

instances.     Not  only  is  it  beautiful,  but  it  is  grand 
and  glorious. 

My  friends  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
remember  that  whosoever  follows  yonder  flag 
is  your  brother  in  arms,  brother  soldier  and  citi- 
zen, fellow  in  all  respects,  elbow  to  elbow,  and 
all  bound  to  gain  the  ultimate  goal — glory  and 
independence. 


476          LIFE  OF  GENERAL   JVM.   T.  SHERMAN: 


SHERMAN  ON  LONGSTREET. 

WHY  HE  REFUSED  TO  RECOMMEND  HIS  FRIEND  FOR  A  CABINET 

PI.ACE. 

A  N  Atlanta  (Georgia)  dispatch  stated  that  by 
permission  of  the  gentleman  to  whom  it 
was  directed,  and  with  approval  of  the  family  of 
the  late  General  Sherman,  the  following  letter, 
which  was  written  soon  after  the  election  of 
President  Harrison,  is  given  to  the  public : 

"No.  75  WEST  THIRTY-FIRST  STREET, 

"NEW  YORK,  Dec.  21,  1888. 
"  To  Hon.  E.  A.  Auger,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  thank  you  for  your  good 
letter,  of  the  2Oth,  about  General  Longstreet,  and 
promptly  assure  you  that  I  will  rejoice  at  every 
piece  of  good  fortune  which  may  happen  to  him 
in  his  old  age  to  give  him  comfort  and  honor,  but 
I  must  not  be  an  active  agent,  because  I  am 
overloaded  with  friends  who  now  turn  to  me. 


APPENDIX.  477 

"Naturally  and  properly  I  will  not  write  a 
personal  letter  to  General  Harrison,  whom  I 
know  to  be  an  honest,  true  and  able  man,  per- 
fectly qualified  to  fulfill  the  office  he  has  under- 
taken and  who  should  be  allowed  to  choose  his 
cabinet  as  unbiased  by  outside  pressure  as  in 
selecting  his  wife. 

'•  I  hold  that  any  intrusion  now  would  be  a 
positive  wrong.  He  has  a  heavy  burden  to 
carry  during  the  next  four  years,  and  I,  of  all  men, 
must  not  add  to  that  burden  a  single  ounce.  I 
have  thought  over  the  subject  long  and  my 
thoughts  have  crystallized  to  positive  conclusions. 

"The  men  of  mature  years  who,  from  1861  to 
1865,  endeavored  to  disrupt  our  National  Gov- 
ernment should  not  be  entrusted  with  foreign 
legations,  with  cabinet  positions  or  with  seats  on 
the  Supreme  Bench.  In  all  the  other  offices  they 
oujjlit  to  have  a  liberal  share.  I  know  that  Long-- 

o  o 

street  would  be  absolutely  true  and  faithful  to 
any  office  in  the  gift  of  this  Government,  but  no 
nation  on  earth  can  afford  to  put  a  premium  on 
treason.  But  if  he  will  be  content  to  be  United 
States  Marshal  of  Georgia,  postmaster  of  Atlanta, 


478          LIFE  OP  GENERAL  WM.   T.  SHERMAN. 

or  take  any  United  States  appointment  within 
the  limits  of  his  domicile  I.  will  endorse  him 
strongly. 

"  I  knew  him  as  a  cadet  and  in  the  old  army 
and  if  every  newspaper  of  the  South  were  to 
charge  him  with  anything  dishonest  or  insincere 
I  would  resent  it  as  quick  as  thought.  Long- 
street  went  into  the  Confederate  army  from  an 
impulse — honest,  enthusiastic  and  positive — and 
when  the  war  was  over  I  know  of  my  own  knowl- 
edge that  he  stood  up  like  a  man  to  regain  for 
his  whole  country  the  condition  of  law  and  pros- 
perity which  had  been  so  foolishly  and  recklessly 
jeopardized  by  the  civil  war.  General  Grant, 
who  knew  Longstreet  even  better  than  I,  always 
spoke  of  him  with  affection  and  respect. 

"  General  Grant  as  President  was  most  anx- 
ious to  draw  to  his  support  the  live  men  of  the 
South,  whose  manly  valor  he  had  encountered 
and  respected,  but  the  old  political  element  de- 
feated his  generous  intentions. 

"  The  North  to-day  is  hardly  prepared  to  see 
an  ex-Confederate  at  the  head  of  the  War  De- 
partment. That  is,  the  Northern  people  are  law- 


APPENDIX.  479 

abiding  people  and  will  ratify  any  choice  which 
President-elect  Harrison  shall  make,  but  if  I  can 
proffer  any  advice  I  would  personally  prefer  some 
one  of  the  Union  generals,  of  whom  our  country 
is  full.  In  any  and  every  other  way  I  will  do  what 
is  possible  and  probable  to  recognize  and  reward 
ex-Confederates  of  the  type  of  General  James 
Longstreet,  whose  personal  friend  I  claim  to  have 
constantly  been  for  fifty  years,  since  1838." 


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